


Mercy At The Gallows

by Weevilo707



Series: Read You Like An Open Grave [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Flirting, Fluff, Lich Taako, M/M, Mutual Pining, Taakitz Week, Temporary Character Death, Warlock Barry, because of lich shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-07-23 21:41:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16167455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weevilo707/pseuds/Weevilo707
Summary: Kravitz had dealt with many liches and other undead abominations in his time, and at the core they were all the same. Even those that turned themselves with good intentions eventually succumbed to darkness. He'd been a reaper for a long, long time, and there had never been an exception to that, not with liches.And yet he was still here, talking to this lich and finding himself wanting to make a deal. Wanting to make an exception.There was something about Taako that was different, and he wanted to help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts: 
> 
> Amnesty  
> “You can’t kill me now, I’m busy.”

“You can’t kill me now, I’m busy.”

“You do realize you don’t get a say in the matter?” Kravitz asked, already a bit fed up. This was not the first time he’d had to deal with this lich, and it was honestly becoming an issue. Sure, some bounties were harder to catch than others, but he’d been after this lich for almost eight years now. And over the past few he’d been an ever increasing thorn in his side.

Despite that, Kravitz didn’t go straight to attacking. He’d learned from experience that would only make him flee. The last thing Kravitz wanted was for him to leave when he’d finally managed to track him down again.

He’d long since learned though that he was much more willing to stuck around if they talked. It was frankly bizarre when compared to most of his bounties, but when it came down to it, most things about this lich were strange. If he could talk his way out of this one instead of resorting to fighting, he’d take that option.

Kravitz also got the feeling that if nothing else, this lich was lonely. It wasn’t his problem if that was the case, but he supposed at the end of the day it didn’t hurt to talk a bit.

“I mean, considering you haven’t managed to throw me in ghosts jail yet I’d say I have a pretty good say,” Taako said, and the red robed specter flitted to the other side of the cave. For all the times he’d had run ins with Taako, it had taken Kravitz a while to find this place.

Despite being incredibly powerful, this lich didn’t give off a lot of the telltale signs he’d learned to look for in his many, many years as a reaper. In all the times he’d seen him, he rarely ever seen him do necromancy.

So it had taken him a while to find his lair, but this was clearly it. It seemed to be set up as half cryptic lair, with maps and spellbooks with notes and magic that looked unfamiliar and powerful even to Kravitz. The other half looked like a disorganized bedroom. Blankets and clothes were strewn across a bed, which was a strange thing to see to begin with. Liches weren’t exactly known for sleeping or being corporeal enough to wear clothes. There were books on this side too, but they didn’t seem to be arcane in nature. In fact, from the colorful covers they looked like cookbooks.

He stopped paying attention to that side of the cave. It was odd enough interacting with a lich who tended to have so much  _ personality. _ It was even stranger seeing signs of hobbies outside of the dark magics and clothes showing an eccentric fashion sense.

Besides, even if Kravitz didn’t see him doing much of it, the important parts of this places showed that Taako was well practiced in necromancy. The body growing in the sickeningly unnerving pod in the corner was clear proof of that.

“I’m not letting you go this time,” Kravitz insisted. The lich barely seemed to be paying him any mind, but he’d long since learned that didn’t mean his guard was down.

“So you’ve been  _ letting me _ get away, have you? Huh, I always had a feeling you were a softy underneath all that bluster,” Taako said. Kravitz frowned, or well, frowned as much as he could with only a skull, and watched as the lich disappeared a pile of maps into some pocket dimension.

“No, that’s not- listen,” he said, sighing heavily. It had been a while since his last encounter with Taako. It always took a moment to adjust to the fact that dealing with this lich was completely different from every other one he’d ever encountered.

“I’m listening, speak your pretty little head as much as you want,” Taako said. Which, ugh, that was another thing.

The flirting had taken a  _ while _ to get used to. He still wasn’t used to it.

“Taako, I’m going to be frank, you’re possibly the most stable lich I’ve ever met, and the number of liches I’ve met is a bit higher than the average person,” he said, and it was true. It used to piss him off, and it still kind of did. He wasn’t used to being given the runaround like this from someone who often times was so clearly fucking with him.

He’d never admit it, but there was also something kind of fun about it too. He told himself that he was not letting that get in the way of his actual work. But, it was a nice change of pace having to deal with an enemy so different and intelligent. Hunting liches was usually such a nasty business, with their minds destroyed it was more like putting down a rabid animal than anything else. He never got that feeling from Taako.

Taako paused in his quick movement around the dimly lit cave, seeming to think over what he’d said. From what Kravitz could tell, he’d been checking maps and putting things away and packing up as much as possible.

“You haven’t met Lup or Barry yet then. They make me look like a recent divorcee crying and eating cans of uncooked peas while sitting in a shopping cart in the middle of a fantasy Costco,” Taako said, and it took Kravitz a moment to process that particular image.

“No, I haven’t,” he said, and this wasn’t the first time Taako had brought up those two other bounties. The first time had been his first encounter with Taako, and it certainly set the stage that it wouldn’t be a normal bounty.

The entire time Taako hadn’t seemed to care that he was trying to kill him. As soon as he found out he was a reaper of the Raven Queen, he’d demanded to know if these Lup and Barry were in the astral plane. They weren’t, and he’d yet to find any sign of either. Taako mentioned them often ever since then, and Kravitz got the feeling it was one of the reasons he’d be rather chatty. To see if Kravitz had any new information on them.

“You’ll tell me if you do, right?” the lich asked, and there was that surprising amount of vulnerability Taako would showcase at times. It always caught Kravitz off guard, no matter how many times it happened. Liches weren’t vulnerable, and they certainly didn’t manage to be without coming undone.

“Yes, I promise,” he said, and he could see the way the whole cloak seemed to slump some in relief. It was clear that these two other liches were incredibly important to him. If assuring Taako that he’d let him know when he found them made him more willing to listen to him, he’d gladly do it.

He even intended to keep his promise, even though he had no real obligation to. All three of them were a mockery of everything he stood for after all.

“Cool, cool, just double checking skeletor. So, you were saying something about me being chill as fuck?” he asked, and Kravitz nodded.

“Right, Taako you’re not an unreasonable person, I’d be hard pressed to even label you as evil,” he said, and that was something that had been incredibly difficult to accept for a long time. Liches were evil, every single one he’d met in his centuries of being a reaper. Some turned with good intentions, but he’d never met one that wasn’t eventually consumed by their own power.

But Taako was different.

“Sweet, so could you like, maybe just let me chill instead of constantly trying to off my sweet ass?” he asked, and Kravitz sighed once again.

“No, it’s not that simple. You’re still a lich, I can’t allow you to go like that isn’t an issue. Hell, you’re  _ still performing necromancy,”  _ he said, gesturing over to the weird glowing pod. “You can’t just grow bodies Taako, that’s illegal.”

“Yeah, okay it’s technically necromancy, but it’s my own damn body. I’m not hurting anyone else just cause cha’ boy needs an extra meat suit sometimes,” he said, and Kravitz was a little surprised at that. This lich didn’t have many distinguishable features, other than the bright red robe he wore. Otherwise, all Kravitz knew was that he was an elf, and that was only from the reports he’d gotten on him from the Raven Queen herself.

He shifted over towards the tank some, squinting to see if he could make out the form a bit more. The water was too cloudy to see any more than a basic frame though. It was a little disappointing. 

When he glanced back over to the lich, he could practically feel the shit eating grin on him. Something without a face shouldn’t be able to do that, and yet here they were.

“Didn’t realize you were so eager to get a look at my pretty face,” he said, a teasing tone to his voice. Kravitz was glad he only ever appeared in front of Taako in his reaper form or inhabiting what he could to fight. It was beyond frustrating how often he managed to fluster him.

“Well, you sing your own praises so much you can’t blame someone for wanting to see how warranted it all is,” he said.

“You used to be a person yourself right? You got flesh to go over those bones, bones? What do you say, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” Taako asked, and if Kravitz had eyes at the moment he would’ve rolled them. This was getting away from the point he’d been trying to make.

But he was curious despite himself. Plus, the more comfortable he could get Taako the better.

Without saying a word he allowed his form to shift, flesh and skin forming over the bones. As soon as he’d finished his transformation Taako let out a low whistle.

“Well shit, charming, has a steady job  _ and _ handsome as fuck? Aren’t you the whole package,” he said. Kravitz wasn’t sure what reaction he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t that one. Which really shouldn’t surprise him by now.

“My steady job is literally to kill you,” he pointed out as bluntly as possible, but Taako dismissed that with a wave of his skeletal hand.

“Details, details,” he said, and despite himself Kravitz found himself snickering at that. It was dumb, but of course Taako would view something like that as only a minor detail.

Before either of them could say anything else Taako waved his hand again, but in a much more deliberate way.

Kravitz was surprised when a large image appeared in the air, hovering above his open palm. He supposed it made more sense than Taako trying to actually change his form to look like he did in life. A small illusion was much less taxing. Taako was strong, but Kravitz couldn’t fault him for not wanting to exert that much energy over something like that.

So what surprised him wasn’t that he made an projection. It was that, well, it wasn’t an image of one person. There were three, two elves and a human. The elves looked nearly identical, clearly related if not outright twins. They were also both incredibly gorgeous, not that he felt a particular need to say that out loud. It was just a fact that was pretty hard to not notice. The human man looked rather plain, especially next to the two elves, but he didn’t look like he felt out of place.

All three of them were smiling brightly, and they were all wearing the same red robes that made up Taako’s form now.

“I’m on the right,” Taako said, and Kravitz nodded. He had been wondering, and since he actually had a face at the moment maybe it showed.

“I take it the others are Lup and Barry?” he asked, and he could see the hood of the robe shift in a nod.

“Yeah, did I ever mention Lup’s my sister?” Taako asked, and Kravitz shook his head. It was weird, seeing a lich look  _ forlorn, _ but that’s exactly what it was as he stared at the image in his hand.

“Yeah, twin sister, natch. Barold’s her nerdy ass husband, and like, my best friend I guess,” he continued to explain. “They’re both a lot better at this shit than I am. I’m the pretty one though, so I guess it evens out,” he added. It was obviously a joke but it didn’t do much to mask the sadness he clearly felt looking at that image. Kravitz told himself that he shouldn’t be feeling bad for someone like him, but the way he sighed before letting the image disappear again tugged at something in his chest despite that.

“You must miss them,” he said, and Taako let out a bitter laugh at that.

“Yeah, I- fuck,” he said, and there were small crackles of pure arcane power shooting off of his form. He’d seen Taako get the slightest bit unstable like that before, but it was rare. “I’m gonna be honest with you my dude, it’s fucking hilarious that you call me stable. I don’t know how the fuck I’ve managed this long without them,” he said, and that honestly wasn’t much of a surprise. Kravitz wouldn’t say that he knew Taako particularly well, even with all their encounters, but it was clear how important those two were to him from the start.

“It’s just- god,” Taako continued, surprising Kravitz some. He wasn’t sure how he felt about a lich opening up to him.  _ Taako  _ opening up to him though didn’t feel as wrong somehow. “I really don’t know what the fuck I’m doing here bones. Necromancy isn’t even my  _ thing, _ that’s all Barry. I couldn’t let those two idiots become fucking  _ liches _ on their own though, ya know?”

“I can’t really say I do,” Kravitz said, because well, he couldn’t. Taako looked up at him again and let out a laugh.

“Right, yeah this is all horrible abominations to you, I get it. That’s pretty fucking fair. Hell, I’m not trying to convince you we were even doing the right thing, but like, we didn’t have a choice,” he said. Kravitz nodded, not wanting to interrupt this. In all the time he’d been after Taako, he’d never touched on  _ why _ he’d become a lich before.

“This was all them though, cause they’re fucking geniuses. I mean, cha’ boy is smart as fuck too, don’t get it twisted, but it’s just… I don’t know what the fuck to do without them. I know she’s hidden Barry somewhere, and he can’t remember even if I  _ do _ find him, and Lup…” Taako trailed off, and this was all so strange. Kravitz didn’t have any idea  _ what _ he was talking out.

Despite himself, he found he wanted to help. Taako was a lich though, there was only one way he was  _ allowed _ to help.

He tried to squash down any idea of asking about exceptions. 

“I’m sorry Taako, honestly I am,” he said finally. He needed to get back to his main point, as much as he wanted to sit here and talk more. “I do want to help you though. I know with all the attempted murder it might not seem that way, but I do,” he said, and it was always hard to tell what Taako was thinking.

“What kinda help you offering here handsome?” he asked, and Kravitz ignored that last part. Best to focus on important things.

“Right, about that,” Kravitz said, and he’d had a whole speech prepared beforehand. These new revelations required some adjusting though. “I can see you’re not evil Taako, that’s clear. We don’t have to fight over this. If you just come with me I promise I’ll put in a good word for you to the Raven Queen. I can’t absolve you of your crimes, but I can promise to make it all as comfortable as possible. And I  _ swear _ that once we bring Lup and Barry in you will be reunited with your family,” he said, hoping beyond hope that Taako would listen to reason.

There was a long stretch of silence. Neither of them were truly alive, so the last of any sound of breathing made sense, but it made the quiet feel even more tense.

“That all sounds fucking swell Krav, but I already told you, I’m busy,” he said, a note of finality in his voice and Kravitz sighed. He’d tried to get Taako to come with him before of course, so many times now, so he shouldn’t be surprised that he was refusing.

Despite that, he was still disappointed.

His refusal to come without a fight should have been the end of the conversation. It had been every time Kravitz had tried this in the past. If he attacked now, he might be able to seriously hamper whatever operation Taako had set up here too. Destroy his home base, get rid of that vile cloning pod, chip away at him until there was nothing left and he could take him in.

For some reason, Kravitz didn’t want to do that.

“Busy with what?” he pressed instead. “If you’re just trying to find your family, we can-” he tried, but Taako cut him off.

“It ain’t that,” he said, which was a surprise to say the least. “I mean, yeah, I’m looking for them. Of fucking course I am, but it’s not- it’s not the most important thing,” he finished, and it seemed almost  _ painful _ for him to say that last part. Admitting there was something more important than finding his family wasn’t easy.

“Then what is?” he asked.

“I kinda doubt you’d believe me. It’s pretty damn far fetched,” Taako said.

“To tell you the truth, I already can’t believe that I haven’t attacked you yet,” Kravitz said, and Taako laughed at that. It wasn’t the first time he’d ever heard his laugh, but it always sounded so much nicer than he expected.

These were really bad thoughts he kept having. He needed to stop having these kinds of thoughts. 

“I guess that’s fucking fair my man. I mean, shit,” he said, and there was an edge of hope in his voice. “You uh, you promise to hear me out here? It’s gonna, this is gonna sound pretty fucking buck wild, but I swear I’m telling the truth,” he added, and despite his better judgment Kravitz found himself nodding.

“Yes, I promise,” he said, because honestly, there was something about Taako that was so different from anyone else he’d ever met. Not even every other lich, but  _ everyone _ . He didn’t know what to think of it, but he also couldn’t ignore it anymore either. If they had met in different circumstances, he probably would’ve really enjoyed Taako’s company.

Maybe there was some way to change their current circumstances instead.

Kravitz let the scythe in his hand disappear, and walked over to a chair in the corner of the cave. Pulling it out, he sat down and gave Taako his full attention.

“Tell me what’s going on. Please, let me help you,” he said. Taako nodded, his lich form doing its best attempt at sitting down in another chair. It was obviously more for show than anything, which made clear how unnecessary having all this furniture around was.

“Well my man, long story short, I’m trying to save this stupid goddamn world.”

A month later, Kravitz was fairly certain if Taako wasn’t insane, he certainly was. He’d gotten express permission for this though, after hearing Taako’s story. He went to the Raven Queen, and he actually asked her for lenience on Taako. He made a deal so that he wouldn’t have to bring him in until everything he’d explained to them was taken care of. He’d promised Taako he would help him with it as much as he could, and it was- all of this was so much bigger than he could comprehend.

It had sounded unbelievable, but as crazy as it was, the story checked out. Taako was telling the truth.

Kravitz found himself incredibly nervous and uncomfortable as he sat waiting on Taako's bed. After only a second though the cloning pod cracked open. Taako’s now inhabited new body came stumbling out, obviously confused and disoriented. Kravitz found himself watching, not surprised to see that Taako was as beautiful as he’d looked in the image he’d shown. He then quickly averted his gaze, staring at the cave wall beside him. Since well, the body hadn’t exactly been cloned with clothes on, and staring would be rude and inappropriate.

“Well shit, don’t remember a goddamn thing about how I got here, but it must’ve been pretty good to end up like this in front of such a pretty face. Gotta say though seems a little unfair, only one of us with any clothes,” Taako said. Kravitz tried not to be surprised that he clearly didn’t have a clue what was going on, Taako had warned him this would happen.

“Your clothes are right over on that chair,” Kravitz said, pointing towards said chair while still staring very intently at the wall next to him.

“Not as fun, but I guess that works too,” Taako said, and Kravitz could hear the pout in his voice. Good Queen above, what in the world was he thinking going through with this? 

“So, what’s your name thug? And uh, care to explain what the fuck is going on?” Taako asked as he threw on the outfit he’d laid out for himself beforehand.

“It’s Kravitz, and well, this is going to sound pretty far fetched, but I promised you I’d help you save the world,” he said. He chanced a glance over at him, and okay, at least he had pants on now.

“Yeah, not gonna lie my man that kinda sounds like a lot of bullshit. Saving the world isn’t really cha’ boy’s speed,” he said. Taako had also warned him that he probably wouldn’t believe a word he said.

“There should be a coin in your robe, um, you said that it would explain everything,” he said. Taako reached into the pocket of the bright purple robe he’d been throwing on (it was so strange seeing him in any color but red) and pulled out a coin.

“This piece of junk?” he asked, and when he said that, the coin started to speak.

_ Alright, you’re Taako, you know? When you were eight you lived with your aunt, she was the only fucking decent adult in your life. She taught you how to cook, and your favorite things to bake are macaroons. You’ve been on your own since you were twelve, but being alone is the most unnatural fucking feeling in the world. There’s a damn good reason for that. _

_ Listen, I know we don’t trust all that well, but this shit is important. I’m you from like five minutes ago, and we’re in some deep shit. You can’t remember any of the important bits, but believe me when I say fixing this hell is the only option we’ve got. _

_ Oh, and listen to Krav. He’s a pretty smart dude, and he knows the whole story. He won’t be able to explain everything to you, but worst comes to worst he’s a real pretty face to look at. See if you can get him to loosen up and maybe he’ll be down for some smooching. I haven’t managed it yet, but you might have a better shot being corporeal and all. _

Kravitz felt his face turning red at that last bit, which was honestly unfair. He wasn’t warm, he shouldn’t have to still react to embarrassment like that. He let out a painfully awkward cough to break the silence. “I probably wasn’t supposed to be here for that last part, sorry,” he said, but Taako was grinning at him.

“Or you were  _ absolutely _ supposed to be here,” he said, pocketing the coin again. “So uh, I don’t know what most of that means, but it’s pretty clear that something’s going on here. So what the fuck, I’ll bite, why not,” he added, and Kravitz felt some relief at that. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do if Taako refused to listen to him at all.

“Alright well, I suppose we should get started. I can try to explain as much to you as possible, but unfortunately like you, or well, the you from before said, you won’t be able to remember any of the important bits,” Kravitz said, and Taako nodded along.

“Right right, hey can I ask ya a question?” he said, and Kravitz nodded.

“Of course."

“You single? Like, the coin implied it but I just wanna be perfectly clear on that fact.”

“This was a mistake. This was a huge mistake,” he groaned, running his hands down his face.

“I’m not hearing a no,” Taako said, and now that he had a face to look at Kravitz could see that he almost looked nervous under the teasing grin.

“I happen to be single, yes,” he grumbled out after a moment. It was not an important fact, so there was no reason to lie or not tell him. 

“Cool cool, in that case you wanna head somewhere a little less drab to discuss all this saving the world shit? I have no fucking clue what we’re doing in a cave of all things,” Taako said, and Kravitz chuckled a little at that.

“You said something about going all in with the aesthetic and paying homage to a friend,” Kravitz explained. He really couldn’t say he was particularly attached to staying in this place either though.

“But yes, we can get out of here. I’ve already agreed to worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna say right here that this is probably my favorite idea for all of Taakitz week. i love character swaps and i might have to return to this someday because it was so fun to write and already ended up a lot longer than i expected. Title was inspired by Gallows by Shelby Merry
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed~~~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:
> 
> "Don't lie to me. I know when something's wrong."

“So, what’s the deal handsome? Like, don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not a  _ fan _ of the world ending or anything, but cha’ boy isn’t exactly a hero up in here,” Taako said. They’d made it to the nearest town, which thankfully wasn’t too long of a walk from Taako’s cave hideout. It had been an awkward walk for the both of them. Kravitz was so used to Taako being chatty, but he was pretty much silent the entire time.

When they got to town though they had found a small bar, and Taako had insisted he was starving. Kravitz supposed that made sense, since this body had never ate. So he quickly ordered something once they were through the door and sat at a table. Kravitz had assured the waiter that he was fine.

“I’m not sure how much I can actually tell you,” he said to Taako once they were settled. This was all very confusing to him, and while Taako had explained a lot it was still hard to wrap his head around it.

“Yeah, I’m still not even sure what you mean by that,” Taako said, chewing on the straw in his drink.

“I don’t know much either, but you said you wouldn’t be able to understand certain concepts if I tried to explain them, and you don’t remember a lot,” Kravitz tried to explain. Taako hummed in thought, nodding.

“Okay, I guess let’s just try and see what sticks then,” he said, and Kravitz supposed that was the only real way to go about it.

“Well, you’re a ļ҉̨i̷͡c͞h̢̨͏,” he started off with, and the look Taako gave him was surprising. It wasn’t one of shock at being told this, but simple confusion.

“Care to repeat that my dude?” he asked.

“You’re a l̷͞i͡҉͞͡c̴̶̷̷͝h̶̡͘̕̕?” he tried again, and he hadn’t been sure what Taako not understanding would look like.

“You just like, went static? All I heard was fuzz, my man,” he said, and well, that explained that.

“Okay, you can’t know that then I suppose. Which is a little awkward,” Kravitz said, mumbling that last bit to himself for the most part. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to explain how he knew Taako if he couldn’t tell him that.

“I guess you weren’t lying about me not knowing shit, good to know,” Taako said, which was fair. There really wasn’t any reason for this Taako to believe anything he said after all. “Well, whatever that was is a false start, let’s keep it going,” he added, and Kravitz nodded.

“Right, well, okay how do I word this. There’s something coming to this world, you call it the hunger,” he said, stopping to see if all that went through. Taako nodded, so he guessed it did. “It’ll destroy, well, everything? And you’re trying to stop it. When you’re a li- when you’re able to remember, you’re one of the only people who can know about it, so that’s why you’re trying to save everything, I guess,” he said. He wasn’t too surprised at Taako being silent, seeming to think this information over.

“Okay, but why the fuck can’t I remember now?” he asked.

“The thing that’s blocking the memories only seems to affect people who are alive, at least from how you understand it,” Kravitz said.

“Okay…” Taako mumbled, and he could see a look of concentrated confusion on his face. He was trying to work through this, but Kravitz was pretty sure the static wouldn’t let him actually draw the conclusions he needed to. “But you know everything, right?” he asked after a moment, and Kravitz nodded.

“I wouldn’t say everything. I wasn’t- I wasn’t there like you were. You just explained it all to me,” he said.

“Cool, cool, uh, how can you know this shit though? If it blocks it from anyone who’s alive, which is like, pretty much everyone,” Taako asked. It was a fair question, but honestly something Kravitz had been hoping to put off until later.

The waiter came by with Taako’s food then, giving Kravitz a moment to try and organize his thoughts. Taako quickly started in on his sandwich, making a face at the taste but not slowing in his eating any.

“Well, the thing with that is, I’m not actually as you would say, um, alive,” he said. Honestly, there was something so bizarre about talking to Taako like this. Maybe it was because he could see facial expressions and body language now, but he seemed so much more closed off than he had been as a lich. There was also the way he seemed to be on edge throughout their conversation, despite still having the same carefree tone Kravitz was used to.

“You’re not alive,” Taako said, his voice blunt and unbelieving. Which was fair, Kravitz couldn’t blame him for being skeptical.

“Well, no. I’m a reaper, um, a bounty hunter for the Raven Queen, the goddess of death,” he said. Taako was just  _ staring _ at him.

And then he reached out and planted his hand right in the middle of his face.

“Oh shit, you’re icy as hell, my dude,” he said, still keeping his hand on his face.

“I’m aware, are you done?” he asked, and with that Taako finally took his hand away.

"Uhuh, so uh, how the fuck did I end up with someone like you? I mean, no offense, but undead bounty hunters don't seem my normal speed," Taako asked. It was a logical thing to question, so Kravitz really couldn't fault him for wanting to know. Even still, it was an awkward thing to try and explain.

"Work. The reason why won't go though but uh, we met while I was on a job," Kravitz said, hoping that would be enough to sate Taako's curiosity for now. “So yes, that’s how I can know these things. I suppose it’s best not to try and think about how you were able to beforehand too much,” he added, hoping to change the subject.

“Yeah, honestly I’m kinda getting a headache from all this,” Taako said.

“We can stop for now if you’d like,” Kravitz offered. He wasn’t sure if there were negative affects from Taako trying to think about these sorts of things too much. Even though he was only a tentative ally Kravitz didn’t want to push him or anything like that.

“No, let’s keep this ball rolling. So, saving the world because sometimes I can know that the world is ending. Is there like, a plan?” he asked.

“Yes, although I’m pretty sure you haven’t told me the whole thing yet. The first steps is figuring out a way to permanently stop the block on your memories. The second is finding someone,” Kravitz told him. Taako had pretty much finished his sandwich by now and was picking at the potato wedges that had come with it.

“Alright, seems simple enough. Who are we looking for?” he asked.

“Two people actually. Their names are Lup and Barry,” Kravitz said. Taako had told him before how he was searching, and it seemed like a decent enough plan so far.

“I have no idea who those people are,” Taako told him bluntly.

“Lup is y̸̸̨o̸̴̶u̷̧͢͡r̨ ̸͟͠s̷̕͟i͘͜͝͠s͘̕t̵̷̢̛̕ę̵̷r̷͟͞͠ ̴̵͘and Barry’s y̛͝o̴̷̧ų҉r̶҉ ̵͘͟b̵͟͝͠r̛͘͘͢o̵̶͘̕t͞͞h̨͜҉̶e̕͏r̸̕͟͟-̵i̶̷̡n̸͘͢͠͠-̶͟l̵͡a҉͏w̧͠͝ ̧̨͘͜͝” he tried to explain. From the continued look of befuddlement on Taako’s face though, he had a good feeling of what happened.

“Sounds like some more illegal information there,” he said, which Kravitz figured was the case.

“Well, in that case I suppose all that matters is that they’re very important to you. You miss them a lot,” Kravitz told him. He remembered the hopelessness and longing so clear in Taako’s voice when he’d talked about them before. It was almost disturbing, seeing him with clearly no clue who they even were.

“I guess if you fucking say so. Sounds fake but sure,” Taako said, finishing off the last of his fries. “God, those were disgusting,” he added, and Kravitz chuckled some at that.

“You could have ordered something else if you didn’t like them instead of forcing yourself to eat,” he said.

“Eh, I doubt anything else at this hole in the wall would be much better,” he said. It didn’t seem like a particularly bad bar to Kravitz, but it certainly wasn’t some high end place either. There was a sudden look of panic on Taako’s face at that moment, and he started patting at his pockets. “Shit, so um, bad news. I might’ve forgotten to bring any, like, money,” he said.

“Oh, is that all?” Kravitz asked, pretty relieved. He’d been worried for a moment that something serious was wrong.

“Yeah I mean, I guess if you’re down to do the ol’ dine and dash it ain’t an issue,” Taako said.

“Taako, I can just pay,” Kravitz said, like it was obvious, because it kind of was. There was a flash of surprise across the elf’s face, though he quickly covered it up with a teasing smile.

“Well, I can certainly appreciate a guy who pays on the first date,” he said. For as flustering as it was, it was also much more along the lines of the Taako that Kravitz was used to.

“This is not a date,” he said, but Taako just shrugged in a non-committal fashion.

“Maybe not yet,” he said. Kravitz sighed, and he wondered if Taako was like this with everyone. He’d never actually seen him interacting with anyone else after all.

“Taako, I am not going to date a li- um, a you,” he said, correcting himself when he remembered Taako wouldn’t be able to understand him. That did not end up sounding very well though, and from the frown on Taako’s face he didn’t think so either.

“I mean, fair. I’m just kidding around my dude, no need to be rude,” he grumbled.

“No, that’s not- I didn’t mean it like that. Honestly, it really isn’t  _ you _ that’s the problem,” he tried to assure him, because he didn’t have a problem with  _ Taako. _ Taako just happened to also be an undead abomination he was sworn to destroy, even if they were working together for now. “Um, maybe we should get back to figuring out the plan,” Kravitz said, figuring a change of subject was for the best.

“Right, so we need to figure out how to lift this block right, how do we do that?” Taako asked.

“I honestly have no idea,” Kravitz said. Taako stared at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

“Oh dear, oh golly. This isn’t going to go well, is it?” 

He guessed Taako had a point there. They’d spent a little while longer talking at the bar before Kravitz quickly paid for the food and they left. He’d stuck around long enough to walk Taako back to his cave, since in this form it didn’t seem like he had many defenses. Then he told Taako that he would be in touch, but he had to leave. Which he did, he still had other duties to attend to after all.

Kravitz didn’t come back for another few days, and in that time it seemed like Taako had adjusted somewhat. He’d clearly gone over the maps that his lich self had left, and seemed to have somewhat of an idea on an area to start looking. Every so often, the coin would chime in with helpful suggestions, but it still seemed to be rather slow going.

“It’d be a lot easier if I could actually know what the fuck I’m looking for,” he grumbled. Kravitz could sympathize with that, he couldn’t imagine how frustrating being unable to think certain things had to of been. Especially when those things were super important and could help decide the fate of the world.

“It’s powerful, and very dangerous. If you do find it, you shouldn’t use it,” Kravitz said, because that was as specific as he could get. They’d already tested that.

That was how it went for a while. Taako was searching with the instructions he’d left himself, and Kravitz would stop by to try and help every so often. When he had a lead, sometimes he’d help Taako get there faster with his scythe. Otherwise, Kravitz mainly kept an eye out for Lup and Barry while on the job.

Taako had explained before inhabiting his new body that Barry was most likely still alive. In the last moments before their minds had been erased, he’d managed to get Barry to kill him so he could become a lich and remember. Barry hadn’t been as ‘lucky’ though, and was somewhere out in the world with his mind gone. The body made it nearly impossible for him to be tracked down in the ways Kravitz normally would a lich, and the fact that he didn’t know he was one made it much harder too. He probably wasn’t using any magic Kravitz could hone in on either.

As for Lup, she was just gone. She’d disappeared a few months before their memories were erased, and there had been no signs of her ever since. Which was concerning, to say the least.

Still, the next few months seemed to be slow but steady progress. Taako was definitely different when he was alive compared to when he was a lich. It was strange. He seemed to be colder and more closed off when alive than anything else. Somehow less trusting of Kravitz now than he’d been when he knew that he’d literally been trying to kill him. It was almost paradoxical, trying to figure Taako out.

When Kravitz went to check in on Taako today, he instantly felt that something was off. He’d last left Taako at the sight of a place he’d wanted to look for what he was missing. It had been a rather barren area, full of rocky cliff faces. When Kravitz had cut a swatch through space and stepped through, he sensed something he hadn’t sensed in a long time.

While Taako was in his body, it had been almost impossible to tell he was a lich. He wouldn’t have been able to without checking his book.

Now though, he could feel a lich, plain as day. Without thinking he rushed towards the surging energy, scythe still out and at the ready. He reached a steep cliff, and when he looked down he could see Taako.

He could also see Taako’s body, which was lying dashed across the rocks underneath his lich form. Kravitz had seen so much death in his time as a reaper, and while this one was rather gruesome, he’d seen worse. Even still, he found himself flinching ever so slightly before jumping down.

“Taako, Taako are you alright?” he asked, frown deepening as he got closer. There were great bolts of arcane energy coming off of him, and his entire form was shuddering. Kravitz tightened his grip on his scythe, ready to defend himself if he needed to.

Taako had always been remarkably stable and put together, but he was still a lich. He could still lose control, and if he did that needed to be taken care of. It would be incredibly disappointing, he wouldn’t lie. It would be hard knowing how to face what was coming ahead without Taako's help.

And well, he wasn’t going to pretend that he hadn’t grown somewhat fond of him over the past couple of months. Even if he didn’t make sense a lot of the time, those little inconsistencies were more intriguing than anything. Taako was intriguing and a genuinely fascinating person. Kravitz would even go so far as to say he enjoyed spending time with him.

None of that changed the fact that if Taako became a danger, he’d have to take him out.

“Taako?” he tried again, and slowly the bursts of red lightning that crackled off of him lessened and his form became a more solid red cloak.

“Hey Krav. I uh, I tripped,” Taako said once he finally seemed to have brought himself back under control again. His voice sounded shaky, and his form would still shudder every so often, but he didn’t seem in danger of losing control anymore.

“I can see that,” he said, and Kravitz couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. It had obviously just happened, if he’d shown up a moment sooner he would’ve been able to save him.

“Right, lemme just,” Taako said, then proceeded to float down to his broken body.

“What are you doing?” Kravitz asked, watching as he gathered up some blood.

“I need to clone a new one, duh,” he said, and Kravitz couldn’t help but grimace some at that. He might like Taako as a person, but he still felt pretty damn uncomfortable with all the blatant necromancy. “Thanks for like, putting up with my dumbass self when I’m like that by the way. I’m a fucking idiot with so much shit erased,” he added.

“It’s fine,” Kravitz assured him, because even though it was strange, it wasn’t exactly bad. “You’re an incredibly interesting person, no matter what form I’m talking to you in,” he added, and now he could imagine the way Taako would smile if he still had a face.

“Heh, is that so? I wouldn’t blame you if you only liked hanging out with flesh me for my good lo-” Taako started to say, before suddenly faltering. “My good looks,” he finished, but it was obvious something was up.

“Taako? What’s the matter?” he asked, but the lich shook his head.

“Nothing homedog, we should get moving,” he said, but Kravitz was far from convinced.

“Please, don’t lie to me. I know when something’s wrong,” he said, and Taako gave a slightly strained laugh at that.

“Is that so? Didn’t realize you were so attuned to the Taako wavelength,” he said, which was fair. They hadn’t known each other for that long, and during most of the time they had they’d been enemies, or Taako had only been a shell of himself.

“Am I wrong?” Kravitz asked, instead of addressing any of that. He wasn’t surprised when Taako sighed, his still crackling form slumping somewhat.

“I need to get back to the cave. Lucretia’s got a bead on me. I must’ve freaked out and put off too much energy when I died,” he explained. The thing about Taako when he was in his body was that he was almost always so upbeat and carefree. He didn’t seem to grasp quite how serious the whole situation was, which was far. He was literally incapable of comprehending the whole situation, and most of the things that would press how important it all was were lost to him.

It was so different from the Taako that stood in front of him now. He seemed so fucking downtrodden, like he was barely holding onto any hope that they could fix this at all.

“Would you like me to make a portal so that she can’t track you back to the area?” he offered.

“That’d be fucking perfect my dude. I’ve got some wards set up there so she can’t sense me when I’m in the cave,” Taako said. With that, Kravitz cut a large swatch through the air, opening a tear up to the inside of Taako’s cave. Once the lich was inside he followed after him before closing it back up again.

“I won’t be able to leave much until the new bodies ready, so searching for the gauntlet will probably be slow until then,” Taako said once they were back in the cave, and he began setting up a new pod. Kravitz tried to ignore that the best he could.

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for anything that seems promising,” Kravitz tried to assure him.

“Thanks bones, I fucking hate waiting like this,” Taako said, and Kravitz really couldn’t blame him for that. The time they spent waiting for the next body to be rebuilt did end up being very frustrating. By the end of it, they didn’t seem to be in any better of a position as when they started out. Kravitz still had no clue how they were supposed to truly defeat this coming evil. He trusted that Taako would be able to think of something though, probably more than he should. It was clear how much of an absolute genius he was, despite how much he insisted none of this was ‘his thing.’

With how slow things were progressing, Kravitz probably didn’t need to visit Taako as much as he did. Often times there wouldn’t be much of a development of either of their ends, and what they ended up talking about tended to stray far from the mission at hand. Instead, Taako would tell him about the dozens of fascinating worlds he’d traveled through with his family, and eventually Kravitz started telling him about his own adventures.

He’d been kind of worried about how Taako would react to stories about him hunting down and killing necromancers and liches and undead cults. As it was though Taako seemed to genuinely enjoy them. When Kravitz asked if it was uncomfortable for him one day, he’d only laughed and said it was fine. Most liches and necromancers were real pieces of shit anyway, Taako was well aware that he was an exception.

Kravitz tried not to think about it too much, even though he knew that the fact that he wasn’t thinking was part of the problem. It was getting harder and harder to imagine Taako losing control, but he had to remember that was still a possibility. It was always a possibility with a lich. He needed to at least try to keep up some kind of guard.

He genuinely considered Taako his friend now though, despite his better judgment. They were pushing at some invisible barrier and Kravitz was terrified of what would happen if it ended up coming down.

And then finally, Taako’s body had finished regrowing.

Once again, Kravitz was sat waiting on Taako’s bed as he lowered into the cloning pod and his new body. It cracked open, and Kravitz managed to avert his gaze much quicker this time around as Taako stumbled out and got his barrings.

“Well um, I don’t know what’s going on here but I guess it must be my birthday or something, huh handsome,” Taako said.

And something in Kravitz’s chest squeezed painfully.

“You don’t remember me at all?” he asked. He knew Taako wouldn’t remember the time they had spent together as a lich, but he’d at least thought some of the memories from the last time he’d been in his body would carry over.

“Sorry my dude, you seem sweet but I must’ve been real fucking wasted,” Taako said. Kravitz could understand why he would make this kind of assumption, but it still managed to fluster him. “Uh, you happen to see my clothes anywhere? I mean, unless you’d rather take yours off,” he asked, adding that last part on in a way that Kravitz could clearly tell now was joking.

“They’re over on that chair,” he said.

“Thanks babe,” Taako said, heading over and starting to get dressed. “So, what’s your name thug? And uh, think you could explain what’s going on here?” he asked. Kravitz sighed, pushing back any hurt feelings at Taako not remembering him. It wasn’t his fault, and it didn’t matter anyway. As much as Kravitz had been forgetting lately, he shouldn’t consider Taako his friend. They were allies at best, and just plain idiots at worst.

“Well, I promised you I’d help you save the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was getting pretty stuck for the rest of taakitz week, so i'm just gonna like, continue with this AU for the rest of it. because i'm having fun and why not
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~


	3. Chapter 3

Over time things seemed to fall into a sort of pattern. Taako would inhabit a body, losing all new memories, and Kravitz would have to ease him into the idea of saving the world. Taako would be skeptical but eventually come around once offered enough proof, and they’d get back to searching for a way to fix everything.

In that time, they’d end up building a friendship again, despite the fact that Kravitz knew it was a bad idea. He couldn’t rightfully find an excuse not to after all. The goal was to get Taako to remember, and he always knew what was happening when he was a lich. Kravitz would feel like a jerk if they managed to fix his memories Taako saw that he started being standoffish and cold for no real reason.

And even if he couldn’t remember, it was clear that Taako still had the same issue as when he was a lich. He was still lonely, although now he couldn’t even understand why. He’d always insist that he’d been a solo act his whole life, that this whole working together thing was new to him. When Taako could remember, he let Kravitz know that couldn’t be further from the truth.

And despite whether it was a good idea or not (and it wasn't, it was such a bad idea), Taako was his friend now. He wanted to help him.

So they’d go through the same things, and it should’ve bothered him but Kravitz found himself not minding. It was nice getting to spend time with Taako, which was it’s own troubling kettle of fish.

Eventually though, Taako would mess up. The places his search took him were dangerous, and so it made sense that without the powers he possessed as a lich he’d often screw up. Kravitz tried to be there to protect him as much as possible, but he couldn’t be there constantly. He still had his duties as a reaper to attend to. Taako didn’t seem to be good at staying put and keeping out of danger either.

Considering how antsy he always was when he was forced to wait for a new body to regrow, it made sense.

So eventually, Kravitz would come back only to find him in his lich form. Often Taako would already be back at the cave by the time he showed up.

And they’d have to start the whole cycle over again.

Every time Taako died it was frustrating, because it meant more waiting around and not being able to do much actively. They could plan, and Kravitz still did what he could, but it was obvious how much it grated on Taako.

Kravitz kept quiet about the fact that the times when he was a lich and could remember were his favorite part of all this. By every account it shouldn’t be, and telling anyone it was wouldn’t help. If anything, it would only make it awkward.

“It’s not like I  _ like _ having my memory gone. It’s actually fucking awful, and getting a hundred years jammed back into my ghost skull every time I beef it ain’t a walk in the park either,” Taako huffed, and Kravitz nodded in sympathy as he listened to his rant. He’d died again a few days ago, and to his credit he’d lasted quite a while this time.

“I can’t imagine it being a pleasant experience, no,” Kravitz said. The body in the pod was pretty far along, since Taako had started it back when he first got into his last one. It’d still take a few more weeks though, despite how long he’d managed to last. So it was a few more weeks of waiting.

“I just can’t stand feeling like we’re not getting anywhere, ya know?” Taako said, finishing his anxious inspection of the pod and coming over to where Kravitz was sitting on his bed.

“I know, but we are making progress. As soon as your body’s done I’ll help you inspect that mine so you don’t go immediately dying again,” Kravitz assured him. He still wasn’t comfortable with what Taako was and the amount of necromancy taking place. He kept checking in with the Raven Queen, trying to make sure that all of this was  _ really _ alright by her.

It wasn’t of course, not really. She did assure him that it was necessary though. Fate had weaved this all deep into her tapestry, and now they needed to see it through.

“Thanks Krav, I should’ve waited for your backup on the last one but flesh me’s a fucking idiot,” Taako said.

“I don’t think it’s idiocy so much as it is impati-” he started to say, before his voice died in his throat for a moment. Taako had lied out on the bed, so that his head, or well the empty black void in the hood where his head should be was situated on Kravitz’s lap. It wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this, although it was almost always when in his flesh form. “Um, impatience,” he managed to finish.

“Everything alright bones?” Taako asked, and Kravitz nodded despite the way his skin was absolutely crawling. “Uhuh,” Taako said, sounding entirely unconvinced. “In that case, what’s with the face? You look like someone dumped wet spaghetti down your back.”

“You’re being dramatic, I don’t look like that,” Kravitz insisted. The one thing he did miss when Taako wasn’t in his body was his face, it was always so expressive. Kravitz could imagine the shit eating grin he’d be wearing right now if he had it.

“Slimy, sloppy noodles  _ allll _ down your back,” he said, and Kravitz chuckled a little at that.

“Are you trying to make me uncomfortable now?” he asked.

“Nah, just wanna know what’s wrong,” Taako said, and even after all this time it threw Kravitz how sincere he could sound at times. If he didn’t know any better he’d say Taako had come to care about him just as much as Kravitz had for him.

“It’s not a big deal,” Kravitz insisted, because he didn’t want Taako to feel bad. “It’s just that well, you’re a very high concentration of necromantic energy right now. It’s um, a little uncomfortable,” he explained. Taako was almost instantly up and out of his lap, which allowed Kravitz to relax again.

He wasn’t disappointed. That had been an extremely unpleasant feeling and there was no reason for him to want to keep it up anyway.

“Shit, sorry. I forgot that has to be like, hells of weird for you,” Taako said. Kravitz quickly shook his head, not wanting this to be a big deal for some reason.

“It’s really not that bad. Just like, uuh, it kinda feels like a physical manifestation of the sound of nails on a chalkboard,” he said, trying to find a good way to explain it.

_ “Dude,” _ Taako said, sounding even more worked up over this.

“It’s not a big deal!” Kravitz repeated.

“Bro, I feel like  _ nails on a chalkboard _ to you, you coulda mentioned that earlier,” he said, and Kravitz shrugged.

“I can’t feel it when you’re in a human body, and a little graze here and there doesn’t seem like something to get that worked up about,” he said. Taako seemed to calm down a little at that, but he still didn’t seem particularly happy.

“I’ve been hells of touchy-feely with you! If I knew it was a fucking bad touch I would’ve stopped sooner,” Taako said, and Kravitz couldn’t argue with that. Most of the time it was just brushing past him or a hand on his shoulder, fleeting but still consistent and there.

“It really isn’t a bother when it doesn’t last long, I’ve gotten used to the energy around you,” he insisted. It was true, as much as it still unsettled him, how undead and unnatural Taako truly was, it was old news at this point. He could deal with an occasional shiver through his soul when Taako grabbed his hand to show him a new spot he wanted to check out.

If he was being honest, he’d miss the contact more than he’d care for the discomfort to be gone. It was trying really, really hard not to be honest though.

“So, you don’t mind me touching you? Even though I feel like the equivalent of walking around in damp fucking socks to you when I’m all lichy?” Taako asked, and Kravitz found himself nodding.

“As long as it’s not, um, extended,” he said. Taako was hovering directly in front of him now, a pinpoint of white swirling light in the black hood, and Kravitz couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“So, like this is fine?” he asked, and Kravitz didn’t move as he reached out and used a skeletal dead hand to brush a lock out of his face. He’d taken to staying out of his reaper form more and more often around Taako. Instead he was just himself, which was frankly a terrifying thing to be.

“It’s fine,” Kravitz said, almost having to choke the words out because his throat felt like it was closing up for some reason.

“You sure about that Skeletor? You seem a little uncomfy,” Taako asked, and Kravitz forced himself to nod again.

“It’s not that,” he said, because it wasn’t. It probably wasn’t a good idea letting Taako know that, but it was the truth. It wasn’t the kind of thing he should tell Taako despite that, but he’d been having a hard time keeping much from him lately.

There was a long moment where Taako stayed hovering in front of him. The light inside his face slowly shifted from brighter to dimmer and back to bright again. It wasn’t him being unstable, Kravitz wasn’t sure what it was.

Then without warning Taako let out a loud groan of frustration and shot across the room. “This is stupid! This is so fucking stupid, what the fuck even  _ is _ this bullshit!” he shouted, doing his best to pace from what Kravitz could tell. Which really wasn’t what Kravitz was expecting.

“I- is everything okay?” he asked, trying not to get too worried and trying to figure out if he’d done something wrong.

“No! Of fucking course everything isn’t okay!” he shouted, and there were bits of crackling red energy coming off of him now. Kravitz had no idea  _ what _ could have set him off like this. Taako was usually so good at controlling himself, scarily good. The only times he seemed at risk of losing himself was right after dying. When he was stuck getting a hundred years worth of memories jammed into his mind.

This wasn’t that bad, but Kravitz didn’t know what was wrong.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked, standing up from where he’d been sitting and hesitantly reaching out to grab his shoulder. Before he could though Taako moved out of the way again, going and curling up in a chair as best as a lich could.

“It’s just bullshit. That I keep having to forget you and everyone, and that my existence is all gross to you,” he muttered, and Kravitz hadn’t expected that. He never really thought forgetting him had bothered Taako all that much.

“I don’t think you’re gross,” was somehow what he ended up stuck on though. Taako scoffed at that, clearly not believing him. “I don’t! I mean, you’re an abomination, yeah but-” he started, immediately regretting that.

“Oh wow! Thanks Krav, is that all I am to you? And here I was worried you might think I’m  _ gross,” _ Taako snapped, and Kravitz couldn’t blame him for being annoyed. That had sounded bad.

“No, that’s not- I mean, your  _ existence _ is an abomination,” he tried, and Kravitz didn’t know how a lich managed to look so goddamn  _ offended. _

“Just keep on digging that hole bubula I’ll meet you on the other side,” Taako said, clearly pouting at this point. Kravitz took a deep breath, running his hands down his face and tried to recenter himself. He cared about Taako, much more than he should, but sometimes he was just the most frustrating person.

“Taako, listen to me. You’re a lich, by all accounts I should have locked you in the eternal stockade ages ago,” he said.

“Yeah, but you need cha’ boy to save the world, so I got a free pass until then,” he said, and Kravitz shook his head.

“Not- not really, Taako,” he said, he said, which at least seemed to get his attention enough to distract him from his angry. “We don’t  _ need _ you. If I brought you in front of the Raven Queen, in front of the Lady of Fate and the Dawn Father and the Everlight and the rest of the Gods, do you think they wouldn’t be able to get the information we’d need out of you? Your cooperation is certainly helpful, but we don’t _ need _ it,” he said. Taako was quiet for a long moment, and Kravitz couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Then what the fuck are we even doing here? If I’m so worthless to all of you why not deal with me now and get it over with?” he asked, and Kravitz hated how hurt he sounded.

“That’s the thing Taako. It’s not- this isn’t about the information you have or how useful you’re being,” it was kind of terrifying, admitting that. He knew when he’d pleaded with the Raven Queen that there was a simpler solution, that they could have forced Taako to give them everything they needed and be done with it.

“I didn’t want to do that to you. I hadn’t thought you deserved something like that. I still don’t,” he said simply. Once again Taako was quiet, and then he started laughing, leaning back so that most of him was floating off the chair, probably just because he could.

“Holy shit. Holy  _ shit, _ Lup is never gonna let me live this down. This is like, the one thing I’m def not looking forward to once we find her,” he said, lying suspended in the air and staring up at the ceiling of the cave.

“She’s never going to let you live what down?” Kravitz asked, because he was still honestly very confused. He still had no solid answer on what had even caused him to get so upset in the first place.

“For falling for the dude who was supposed to fucking kill me, what else? I mean, I gave her and Barold a lot of grief over taking half a goddamn century to get together, but this is something else,” Taako said, shaking his head and laughing to himself. It was so blunt, like admitting that was a casual thing. Like it was so obvious that Kravitz was an idiot for not immediately knowing what he was talking about.

He should say something. He needed to say something but it felt like his throat had closed up and he couldn't even breathe. He didn't  _ need _ to breathe, but still. All he could do was stare, gaping like an idiot at Taako. After he wasn’t even sure how long Taako sat up, for lack of a better word, looking back over at him. If a faceless lich could look sheepish, somehow Taako managed it.

“Sorry. I’m usually better at keeping a lid on that kinda shit. It’s hard when you’re made up of raw emotions, ya know? Sometimes you just gotta be honest about your feelings,” he said. Kravitz nodded, even though by all accounts he  _ didn’t _ know. “If this is like, too fucking awkward now, I get it,” he added, and Kravitz quickly shook his head.

“No,” he finally managed to get himself to speak. This should be too awkward, this should be the worst thing he could possibly think of. “I’d- I would be lying if I said I hadn’t- well, that I hadn’t gone and made the same mistake,” Kravitz said. Now that he’d admitted it he’d almost started laughing.

“So, liking me is a mistake?” Taako asked, but the annoyance in his voice from before was gone now. Instead, he sounded amused, and Kravitz nodded emphatically.

“Without a doubt,” he said, and he couldn’t get a dumb smile off his face now. “But one I can’t really see myself regretting,” he added. Kravitz wished he could see Taako’s face right now, but he supposed the almost giddy laugh he had now was enough.

“Fucking, damn that’s some mushy shit right there. What the hell is even happening right now?” Taako asked, and Kravitz was inclined to agree with him on that.

“Shit,” he said, running a hand through his locks. “This is- this is bad,” he couldn’t get the almost hysterical disbelief out of his voice. This was so bad.

“You’re not gonna get in trouble with bird mama are you?” Taako asked.

“Please don’t call her that,” Kravitz said, knowing his request was going to fall on deaf ears. “But no, I don’t think so,” he added. He’d have to go and explain some things to her after this, but he had a feeling she already knew. He couldn’t imagine her letting him get this far without stepping in if she disapproved.

“Good,” Taako said decisively, like there was anything he could do if the Raven Queen  _ did _ have a problem with this. “So uh, like seriously. You’re down? This isn’t too fucking weird for you, dating an alien ghost?” he asked, and Kravitz couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“I mean, I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty fucking weird,” he said, and he couldn’t get himself to stop grinning. “But I am death, so it’s not like most people wouldn’t also find me strange. I’m not really sure how we’re going to manage it, with- with you forgetting all the time, but yes, I’m definitely down,” he said. Even though Taako didn’t have a face, Kravitz could tell he was grinning back at him.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll figure out something.”

Kravitz still wasn’t sure what the solution would be a few weeks later when Taako lowered down into his newly formed body. He’d been right about the Raven Queen already knowing what was going on though, and that she would’ve stopped it before now if she needed to. She hadn't specifically said it was part of fate's design but well, Kravitz liked to imagine it was.

Kravitz waited as Taako got himself oriented as he stumbled out of the pod, the same way he’d done so many times now. “Your clothes are on the chair,” he said before Taako could start his usual awkward and confused spiel. He looked a little put off by that, but he went and started getting dressed anyway. Kravitz couldn’t help it, they’d done this half a dozen times now, but it was still- he was nervous.

“Uh, you mind telling me who you are thug and how I got here? Like, you’re pretty and all, but I don’t think I’m usually waking up in caves after a hook up,” Taako said, throwing on his robe.

“My name’s Kravitz. Things are going to be pretty confusing for a while, I’m sorry about that. I know you probably won’t believe me, but I’m trying to help you save the world. We, well we already know each other, but there’s something blocking your thoughts and keeping you from remembering,” he explained. Taako looked unconvinced, and the worst thing about starting with no memories over and over was how suspicious and distrustful Taako started out with him every time. Even when he would joke around it was always so detached.

“Huh, you’re right. I don’t believe you,” he said, and yeah, this wasn’t a surprise to Kravitz, even if it was disappointing. Even if it somehow hurt a little bit more, with how their relationship had changed. Sometimes Taako was more receptive, sometimes it took more convincing to get him to come along, that was just how it was. Kravitz had assured Taako that he could deal with it, and so he was going to.

“There should be a coin in your pocket, it’ll explain everything,” Kravitz told him. Taako was still looking at him with suspicious as he pulled the coin out.

“This piece of junk?” he asked, and with that the coin started speaking again.

_ Alright, you’re Taako, you know? When you were eight you lived with your aunt, she was the only fucking decent adult in your life. She taught you how to cook, and your favorite things to bake are macaroons. You’ve been on your own since you were twelve, but being alone is the most unnatural fucking feeling in the world. There’s a damn good reason for that. _

_ Listen, I know we don’t trust all that well, but this shit is important. I’m you from like five minutes ago, and we’re in some deep shit. You can’t remember any of the important bits, but believe me when I say fixing this hell is the only option we’ve got. _

It repeated the same message it did whenever Taako returned into his body. The part after the initial speech often changed up though depending on what they were doing, and this time was no different.

_ And right, about Kravitz. Get this, dude’s our boyfriend! Hell yeah, am I right? Seriously, he’s a good dude and maybe the best thing to happen to you in a century, and definitely the best thing to happen in the past decade. So just, listen to him okay? And give him a kiss or something pleeeeease I’ve been fucking dying to and it’s dumb that we haven’t gotten a chance yet. _

“I told you not to be so blunt,” Kravitz muttered, having hidden his face in his hands in embarrassment at this point. Sure it was nice hearing that Taako felt that way and also thought it was important enough that he know he feels that way, but it was a lot. This was a lot that Kravitz hadn’t done in a very long time, and certainly never under these circumstances. When he peaked out to see what Taako was doing, he was staring dumbstruck at the coin.

“So uh, boyfriend, huh?” he asked after a moment, and Kravitz nodded sheepishly.

“It’s um, it’s new. Only started dating a few weeks ago, well, three weeks and two days ago, if you wanted to know,” he explained. 

“But who’s counting, right?” Taako said with a laugh, and it sounded a little more genuine, if still guarded.

“Well, listen handsome, I’m not sure how much I believe you on the whole saving the world front, but uh... whatever the fuck I was doing, I don’t think I’d let myself end up like this with someone if I didn’t trust them,” he added, seeming to stop and think it over some. “Yeah. Yeah I think I trust you.”

“I’m glad. I promise I’m not going to push you into anything you’re uncomfortable with for this,” Kravitz tried to assure him. This was still so new and he just, he wanted it to work.

“In that case, the me on the coin can throw a fit but he’s gonna have to wait a bit longer on that kiss. Don’t get me wrong, you’re fine as fuck, and I believe you, but I still don’t like,  _ know  _ you, and if this is a serious thing it’s just…” he trailed off, and Kravitz was quickly nodding.

“No, no of course. I told him- er, you, I told  _ Taako _ that we were going to have to go slow again,” Kravitz assured him. For some reason though that got a confused look from Taako.

“Again?” he asked, and oh, that made sense.

“This… isn’t the first time you’ve forgotten me. It’s not- we weren’t  _ dating _ those other times yet, but it was still… I’d like to think we’d gotten pretty close, at least,” he explained as much as he could. There was a look of guilt on Taako’s face at that, which wasn’t Kravitz’s intentions. He didn’t want to make Taako feel bad over something he needed to do and that Kravitz knew he hated just as much.

“Shit, sorry my dude,” he said, but Kravitz shook his head.

“It’s alright. The memory issues aren’t your fault, and you’ve forgotten things much more important than me,” Kravitz said, and Taako frowned at that. There was that hint of suspicion again, he could understand it but it still hurt.

“I forgot I had a whole ass super hot boyfriend, the fuck else can I possibly not remember that’s more important?” he asked, which from Taako’s perspective was an excellent question.

“Well, like I said, there’s the end of the world,” Kravitz said, because he really needed to stay focused. Taako had a lead and he’d been pretty insistent on not missing it. “And there are others. Other people you’re missing that I know for a fact I couldn’t hold a candle to,” he added. It always felt wrong, Taako not having any clue who Lup and Barry were. Kravitz liked to at least let him know there were people he loved out there, even if he couldn't remember them.

“It sounds like I got a lot to remember then bubala. Is there any way I can fucking do that?” he asked, and right, back to business.

“That’s what we’re trying to do. One of the things, at least. I can only tell you so much, the block on your mind will static out any of the specifics, unfortunately,” he started and Taako nodded, looking mildly annoyed.

“Well that’s specifically inconvenient,” he grumbled.

“I know love, the person who put the block in place was very specific,” Kravitz said. He only realized afterwords that the pet name might be a little much for a Taako who’d met him like an hour ago from his perspective. “I- sorry I didn’t-” he started to apologize, but Taako waved it off.

“It’s cool my dude, fucking cute. I can dig it,” he said, and Kravitz figured the best thing to do was continue then.

“Okay, so uh, right. We’re trying to find an artifact, we think one of the people you’re missing is with it. If we can find it and find her, we should have a better shot at figuring out a way to lift the block on your mind,” he explained, and Taako nodded once again. It was still difficult to tell how much of this he actually believed, but he was listening. As long as he was willing to listen, they could make this work.

“Okay, so where’s this artifact?” he asked.

“Well, the next place we’re gonna check is a mine called Wave Echo Cave. There’s a dwarf you heard about named Gundren Rockseeker, he should know a way into the mine and the vault inside,” he said.

Kravitz was about to suggest they make their way to where this dwarf was when he felt a tug on his soul. It was something he should have expected, he’d been uh, slacking, during Taako’s most recent time as a lich. Even still, he found himself disappointed.

“What’s up mystery date game? There a reason for the sudden puppy dog look?” Taako asked, and Kravitz tried to school his face into one of less noticeable disappointment.

“I was hoping you accompany you to the mine, but it seems I’m being pulled into work,” he explained, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Oh yeah, what kinda work do you get up to, anyway?” he asked.

“I’m a bounty hunter for the goddess of death,” Kravitz told him bluntly. He liked to try and ease Taako into most revelations, but well, sometimes dumping it on him was funny. As it was, Taako let out a very high pitched, nervous laugh.

“Haha,  _ what?” _ he asked.

“It’s not that big a deal really, the Raven Queen employs a few reapers such as myself. It does keep me a bit busy though, so I haven’t been able to help you out as much as I’d like,” he said. Taako was still staring at him, and Kravitz could swear he could see the gears turning in his brain.

_ “I’m dating the grim reaper?”  _ he finally shouted, and Kravitz wasn’t able to keep himself from bursting out laughing at that.

“Yes, that does seem to be the situation at hand. I wish I had the time to give you the full story. Or well, the ability to, but even if I could tell you everything I do need to get going,” he said, and Kravitz really did regret having to leave so soon. He hated sending Taako out on his own, especially when he was so recently in a new body.

He couldn’t start ignoring his duties for Taako though. With all the leniency his Queen was giving him on this, he owed it to her to continue to enforce her laws with as much devotion as possible.

“Right yeah no, don’t let me get in your way of being  _ fucking death, holy shit,” _ Taako said, obviously still reeling from that. “Uh, one thing before you go though. How am I supposed to find this dwarf dude?” he asked.

“Oh, he’s at a bar in Neverwinter. I can drop you off before I leave if you’d like,” he said. Taako nodded, looking both hesitant and skeptical. With that, Kravitz summoned his scythe, and he wasn’t surprised when Taako flinched back. They’d been down that road before, Taako wasn’t super comfortable with people pulling out large weapons, unsurprisingly.

Still, Kravitz made sure to swing away from him, cutting a portal through the planes to a back alley behind the bar Gundren was currently at. “It’s right around the corner to the left,” Kravitz explained, and Taako was staring again, his mouth agape.

“Um, too much?” he asked, suddenly worried. Sure, Taako was usually impressed, but he didn’t typically act like that.

“Holy  _ shit _ that’s hot. And I’m  _ dating _ you?” he asked, and oh. Kravitz let out an embarrassed laugh at that, nodding.

“That- that would be our current arrangement, yes,” he said. It still managed to fluster him, that it was actually real, even if Taako couldn’t remember.

“Uh, I should probably get going,” Taako said, a little awkwardly and sounding almost disappointed. Kravitz nodded, the pull on his soul tugging once again, letting him know he was running out of time as well.

“Yes, I should be going as well,” Kravitz said, and then a thought came to him. “Oh right, one more thing I almost forgot,” he said. Reaching out, he ran a hand through Taako’s hair. Taako went stiff for a moment before leaning into it, which certainly did things to Kravitz's chest. After a moment he pulled his hand away, a few loose strands of hair coming with it.

“Uh, okay. What exactly you gonna do with those grim? Cause like, I was on board for the hair petting thing but if you’re gonna be keeping those as like, a memento or something I’m gonna have to say. We’re crossing over from old school romantic and into creepy stalker territory,” he said, and Kravitz quickly started shaking his head in protest.

“No! Oh gods no, that- that would be weird. It’s- ugh, it’s a nasty business and kind of goes against everything I  _ do, _ but if you die we need to make sure it’s not going to be permanent. The pod you came out of, it’ll be able to grow you a new body if something goes wrong,” he explained. To prove his point he went over and dropped the few strands of hair into the top.

“Alright, that’s still creepy, but in a totally different way. That’s a creepy I can get behind,” he said, and Kravitz couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him at that. “But uh, I should probably be leaving for real now though, right? Gotta go save the world and shit apparently?” he asked, and with a sigh Kravitz nodded.

“Yes, it’s- I’ll see you soon love. Be safe,” he said, and Taako flashed him a smile.

“Catch ya later Krav,” he said, before stepping through the portal. With that Kravitz closed it, taking a moment to collect himself before opening a new tear in the planes to the task the Raven Queen had set out for him.

The sooner he finished this mission, the sooner he could get back to Taako.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, wasn't able to get all of this done during taakitz week, but we're still going people because i'm real attached to the concept tho. i have abandoned the prompts tho because ya know, seemed easier than trying to fit them in. i'm just having a lot of fun with this au and these good dumb boys.
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy~


	4. Chapter 4

Taako stepped through the portal Kravitz had made for him, and he was still fucking reeling from all this. He had memories he couldn’t think of  apparently . A  _ lot _ of shit he’d forgotten and he had no idea why. He was trying to save the world for some reason? And he had a boyfriend. A super hot boyfriend who seemed to be a huge fucking nerd.

A boyfriend who was also the grim reaper. That one was going to take some getting used to.

It was a lot to think about, but he didn’t have time and he didn’t want to if he was being honest. It gave him a headache and he couldn’t  really concentrate when he did. He  just needed to focus on the task at hand.

He needed to find some dwarf.  He had to find this dwarf and he could lead him to something he was missing, although Taako had no idea what that missing thing was . Who that missing person was? He couldn’t be sure.

Gods, Taako had no idea how to go about this.

_ Alright, I take it Krav’s had time to fill you in and get some hair for the cloning pod now. _

The coin in his pocket  suddenly started speaking, and Taako fumbled for a moment before pulling it out so he could hear better . He was still alone in the alleyway behind the bar so no one else was around to see this. Taako couldn’t see any way to get the coin to stop talking if he wanted to or like, to repeat messages. He hoped that wouldn't be a problem later.

_ You should be in Neverwinter by the bar at this point.  _ _ Hopefully _ _ Krav is still with you. If so, hi babe! _

Kravitz wasn’t with him, and Taako snorted at that. Fuck, they were in that cutesy new couple stage, weren’t they? He’d said it’d only been a few weeks.

_ So, you want to stay with Gundren Rockseeker. He’s a dwarf with access to wave echo cave, he’s got a map. I’m pretty sure he’s looking for a body guard, so try and land that role. _

Taako rolled his eyes at that. He didn’t think he could pass for a fucking body guard. He wasn’t exactly beefy. He could stab someone with a rapier if he  really tried and they weren't very fast, but that wasn't much of a resume. 

_ You’re a pretty damn powerful wizard, but you don’t remember that. Still, that’s your strength, so play up to it. You should have a wand in your bag, but uh  _ _ maybe _ _ try to avoid having to give too many examples of your skill. _

Taako frowned, but sure enough digging through the bag that had been with his clothes he found a pretty decent looking wand . He didn’t know how to use it though.  He had some vague memories of reading some basic magic tomes while traveling on the road as a kid, but he never thought any of it stuck . Still, he guessed he passed better as a wizard than like, a fucking fighter.

The coin seemed to be quiet now, so Taako stuffed it back in his pocket. Taking one last steadying breath, he headed out of the alleyway and into the bar.

It wasn’t too busy inside, but it was still pretty early in the day from what Taako could tell. He didn’t have any idea what time it was when he’d woken up or anything like that. Doing a quick scan of the place, he spotted a gruff looking dwarf sitting up at the bar. Taako  quickly threw on a bright smile before heading over.

“Hail and well met my good dude! You must be Gundren uuuh Rockpersonface,” he said, that last part a little quicker than the rest. The dwarf turned to look at him with an expression of confusion and vague annoyance.

“…Rockseeker?” he asked after a moment, and Taako nodded  quickly .

“Of course, of course. So Mr. Gundren my man, I heard you were looking for uh, some sort of wavy cave?” he asked, and he should’ve practiced this before he came in. Would've been nice if he could've listened to the coin a couple times too. Gundren  quickly stiffened and his annoyance  was replaced with suspicion.

“What was that now?” he asked, and this time Taako actually tried to get the name right. He didn’t know what this was all for, but he doubted he’d go through this whole rigmarole if it wasn’t important.

“I  _ heard _ you were looking for a body guard, for a trip down to uh, Wave Sound Cave?” he said, pretty sure he was still screwing up the name somewhat. Gundren was frowning now, but he wasn’t pulling out a weapon or anything yet, so Taako resisted the urge to bolt.

“Wave Echo Cave, you mean?” he asked  cautiously . Right, fuck that was it.

“Got it in one my man,” he said.

“You don’t  really look like the body guard type,” Gundren added after a moment, and Taako scoffed, twirling his wand  lazily .

“I’d say a big blast of fire to the face can guard a body  just as well as some big muscle dude,” he said. Sure, he didn’t know how to  _ make _ a big blast of fire, but  hopefully Gundren wouldn’t realize that.

“Fair enough,” he said after a moment, and Taako had to resist breathing a sigh of relief. They weren’t quite through this yet, he still wasn’t sure if he’d actually gotten the job. “Where’d you hear about this job anyway?” he asked, which was a fair question. It didn’t seem like the kind of thing this guy was looking to have get out.

“Oh you know,  just through the grapevine my friend. Can’t  really remember from where exactly.  Memory has never been a real strong suit of mine, lots of holes in the ol’ Taako story,” he said, which was pretty damn close to the truth .  Gundren still looked suspicious, but  hopefully he’d want to keep him close in that case regardless .

“Yeah, alright then,” Gundren said finally, which was a huge relief.  “I’m planning on heading out tonight, got a meeting with some cousin of mine and a couple of his friends or whatever before then . Need em to deliver some stuff for me. We’ll be stopping in Phandolin on the way before heading off to Wave Echo Cave,” he explained. Taako let a large grin stretch back across his face at that.

“Sounds fucking  _ perfect _ my dude.  Give me a shout when we’re good to head out,” he said, heading off to a corner of the bar before Gundren could reconsider the offer . He only got a few glances at the people Gundren met up with about an hour or so later. Three dudes, two humans and another dwarf. Taako could  probably take an educated guess on which one was the cousin.

As soon as he finished talking to the three Gundren headed over to where Taako was still stalking in the corner, announcing that they were ready to move out . Taako nodded, finishing off the last of his drink before following him out of the bar.  When they passed the group Gundren was talking to Taako clicked his teeth and made some finger guns at them because that… is  probably how you interact… with people .

The ride started off awkward and quiet, and Taako was pretty sure he didn’t deal all that well with awkward and quiet. So he started talking. About anything  really , the first shit that came to his head. Told this guy about how he used to travel around like this all the time growing up, that he used to cook a lot. That he’s a  _ damn good _ cook, if memory serves.

He mentioned that he had a boyfriend. Real new relationship,  hopefully they could meet up with the dude in Phandolin. He was real experienced with these kinds of things, or at least Taako was pretty sure he was.

From there they actually got on the topic of the mission, and Gundren started explaining it a bit more to him.  Maybe it was so Taako would have a clue about what they were getting into.  Maybe he  just wanted him to be quiet for five minutes. Whatever the reason was, he started telling Taako about this mine. It was  apparently his birthright, had  been lost for about a decade, damn orc marauders, yada yada yada.  Taako was only half paying attention until he started getting to the interesting stuff .

There was a vault in the cave.  It could only  be opened with Rockseeker blood, riches beyond your wildest dreams all hidden away inside . Gold and magic items and artifacts that would leave them set for life. Even Taako’s life, despite how long elves tended to stick around.

Even if Kravitz hadn’t told him he needed to do this to save the world or whatever, that would have definitely caught his interest . Still, he tried to stay focus on that mission. He needed to find  _ something _ in that vault because it would lead him to someone he was missing.

He if happened to grab a bit of gold while he was there though, no harm no fowl.

“There’s a map, only it’s not a regular map,” Gundren said, kind of on a roll now that Taako was willing to let him continue down. “It’s like the vault you see, it’ll only  be revealed with Rockseeker blood,” he said, patting a map tube he had slung on his horse.

“Gross,” Taako said, ignoring the frustrated look from Gundren. “So uh, how you planning on getting this blood, like, do we need to  just start blasting  _ or…?” _ he asked, and Gundren rolled his eyes, before pulling a small vial out and reaching over to hand it to Taako.

“I’ve already got some, you can hold onto it for backup for now,” he said. Taako nodded, putting it into his bag. Now he had a vial of blood.

“Alright, this all sounds easy enou- fuck!” Taako shouted, cut off when his horse  suddenly buckled underneath him. Gundren was cursing as well, and it was night but they both had darkvision.  Taako could see the arrows in the horses, but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge when another one came slamming him in the shoulder .  _ “Fuck!” _

“What’s going- shit!”  Gundren shouted, and when Taako looked he could see an arrow piercing the dwarf’s leg, and there were two gerblins throwing a net on top of him .

“Hey, fuck off!” Taako shouted, gripping his wand and pointing it with a flourish at the two gerblins over Gundren.

And nothing happened.

“What the- I thought you said you were some powerful wizard!” Gundren snapped, trying and failing to claw his way out of the net.

“Hah hah yeah about that, I  _ was _ a powerful wizard, but  I might ’ve, um, forgotten how to do magic,” he said, struggling to try and get up to run . Before he could though two more Gerblins tossed a net over him as well.

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Gundren cursed.

The next bit Taako could only remember in bits and pieces. He got dragged to a cave,  literally fucking dragged. At some points he tried to make his way out of the net without them noticing, but they did. Taako was pretty sure he was unconscious for a while after that point.

When he woke up again Gundren was gone, and a familiar looking human dude was pouring a healing potion down his throat . He was older and had glasses and a long sword he held  awkwardly in his other hand.

“Fuckin- thanks for the save my dude. This, this is definitely a good move on your part.  Ten out of ten times, saving Taako is the right choice,” he muttered once he finished chugging the rest of the healing potion .  _ Fuck _ he still hurt though. Those gerblins were dicks.

“Taako, what happened to Gundren?” Another guy asked, and oh, there were other people. It took him a second to realize why they were all familiar. They’d been the people Gundren had talked to at the bar. Of course, he'd seen them at the bar.

“I uh, we got attacked. I um, I  bravely fought them off, but there were too many of them and we got caught. It  really sucked and I would not like to do it again, can we leave now?” he asked. He needed to nap for like, a fucking week.

“Do you know who the Black Spider is?” this same guy asked, the  slightly younger human man. Taako realized he hadn’t ever gotten any of their names.

“No? Ya know  technically I don’t know who you fuckers are either. I’m Taako but it seems you already know that,” he said.

“Oh right, I’m Magnus Burnsides,” the one said, reaching out a hand and helping Taako to his feet.

“Barry Bluejeans,” the older one said, and weren’t these  certainly a couple of names.

“And I’m Merle, where the hell’s my cousin?” he asked, and Taako groaned, rubbing at his temples as he tried to think.

“Hey uh buds,  I think we should  probably get outta this cave soon. I’m pretty sure Klaarg isn’t gonna want to, you know, keep being friends once that spell ends,” Barry said. Taako had no idea what he was talking about but nodded in agreement.

“Yes, please let’s get the fuck outta this cave, I fucking hate this cave,” he said.

They proceeded to get the fuck out of that cave, and Taako was real thankful when they got to a cart to make the rest of the way to Phandolin . Magnus and Barry filled him in for the most part, and Taako told them what he knew once they were safe in an inn.

“I don’t know much, but I figure they took Gundren to the vault thingy. It’s in Wave Echo Cave, and uuuh, there should be a map here,” he said, and right okay, there’s the case he had earlier. It was blank when he opened it, but that wasn’t a surprise.

“Now I  just need some genuine dwarf blood, it should be, uh, around here somewhere,” he said,  quickly searching his bag . Fuck. “Well, uh shit.”

“Would a cousin’s blood work?” Merle asked, and Taako let a grin stretch across his face.

“You know, that’s a real fucking good idea.”

It turned out a cousin’s blood did work, and after some helpful egging on from both Taako and Barry soon enough they had a map to get to the cave .  When they started making plans to head out though, Taako slumped in his chair, not intending to move from that spot .

“Wait, Taako are you not coming with us?” Magnus asked, and Taako scoffed.

“No my dude, I’m fucking spent. I need to sleep this one off for like a week,” he said, stretching his arms up above his head, his back cracking  loudly as he did. “Listen, my boyfriend’s planning on meeting up with me here in like, a few days max. As soon as he shows his handsome face we’ll catch up with y’all,” he added.  It was kind of strange referring to Kravitz as his boyfriend, but it required a lot less explaining than if he started talking about the grim reaper .

Past him had stressed the need to get to this cave, and so had Kravitz, but he said he’d rather be with him to do it. Taako  clearly couldn’t fucking defend himself, so this was  just safer. Whatever it was he needed to find would still be there when he went. If not, he  just needed to track down these dorks until he found it.

Kravitz didn’t show up for the next few days. Taako had no idea how long his job as a grim reaper kept him busy, but he was starting to get pretty impatient. Like, he couldn’t argue that much, death had to be a busy job. He didn’t know what he  was supposed to do from here though, and the coin had been  frustratingly silent.

He  really didn’t know what to do when a dwarf engulfed in flames came blasting into the bar he’d been staying at. It took a good long moment for Taako to realize it was Gundren.  He  frantically ushered a few of the other patrons into the back room of the bar before running out there to- to fucking what ? He didn’t know, but  just to try and keep him from burning the whole place down.

He lasted about twelve seconds before he ran from the building, straight into those three assholes from before .

“Holy shit, how are you guys not  _ dead?” _ he asked, scrambling behind them and away from the bar door.

“Taako, we need to calm Gundren down, what do we do? You know him,” Magnus asked, and Taako scoffed.

“Know him? I fucking met the dude the day we left Neverwinter, I don’t have any clue my man!” he shouted.

"Oh, shit," Magnus said, wincing at that. This was so fucking bad. Taako didn’t know what the fuck to do or why Gundren was  suddenly all fire. Did that have something to do with the thing he  was supposed to find? What the hell was he supposed to do with something like that?

He didn’t get much time to think about  all of that though. The others tried to calm Gundren down, and it almost seemed to be working for a moment.

And then there was an arrow sticking out of Gundren’s chest. Taako  barely managed to catch sight of some orc kid was a crossbow running off.

_ “Who did this?” _ Gundren shouted.

“It uh, it definitely wasn’t an orc,” Taako said, because he as nervous, and he always fucking talked too much when he was nervous . He saw Gundren spin  violently towards him, and then there was heat, and burning, and  _ nothing. _

And then,  slowly , there was fucking  _ everything. _

It took more effort than usual to rise up, and he found it was because he was being blocked by a thick sheet of black glass. The memories came back to him, all at once in a rush that made him feel like he was choking on his own existence.

He  was used to that though. He could deal with that.

What he couldn’t deal with was how close he’d been.

He found them. He found Magnus and Merle and fucking-  _ Barry. _ Barry had been right there! Taako looked, hoping to see another red robed spector rise from the glass, but there was  just nothing. He was still alone, and the gauntlet- they had the gauntlet! Lup should’ve been with them. Why wasn’t she  _ with them? _

_ Where the fuck was she? _

He could feel himself start to tear apart, and he didn’t know if he cared enough to try and hold it together anymore.

“Taako! Taako  _ please, _ can you hear me? You didn’t- you couldn’t have done this.  Just \- please, Taako pull yourself together,” Kravitz’s voice started to cut through the overwhelming rush of rage in his ears, and  slowly the blinding red that was all he could see faded away .  He could see Kravitz now, kneeling in front of him and trying to hold onto hands that weren’t in the least bit corporeal at the moment . He looked so fucking  _ worried. _

“Taako, are you still with me?” he asked  softly .  Taako forced himself to nod, before letting out a bitter laugh and leaning forward into Kravitz as best he could . He’d feel bad later about giving him the heebie-jeebies, but he  just … he needed this right now.

“I’m here. I’m- fuck.  Barely lasted a week. Didn’t even get the chance to  _ fucking _ kiss you,” he grumbled, because that was easier to focus on. Kravitz laughed, sounding relieved.

“Next time,” he reassured, even though he had no way to guarantee that. God, Taako had  _ just _ gotten this body. He was going to have to wait  _ so long. _ And he fucking found them!

“I- what happened Taako? I felt so much death at once, and it was  just like- you found the gauntlet, didn’t you?” he asked, still speaking  softly . Taako forced himself to nod, forced himself to keep control despite what a fucking idiot he’d been.

“I didn’t even go with them. It was- I  _ found them _ Kravitz. I found Barry, and Merle and Magnus. But Lup wasn’t with them. I got hurt and I  just \- I figured I’d wait at the inn where it was safe. Let them check out the cave and see how it was when they came back, but Gundren got the gauntlet. He fucking did this and Lup wasn’t even  _ with them,”  _ he said, feeling himself start to destabilize again.

“I’m sorry Taako, I’m so sorry,” Kravitz said  gently .  He still wasn't complaining about Taako leaning against him despite the discomfort Taako knew he must’ve been feeling .  “You said Barry was here though, but I don’t- I don’t sense another lich,” he said, and Taako nodded, trying to figure out what was going on .

“It was- there was a woman, fuck. She had a bracer from Lucretia’s secret society thing. She must’ve took them up to the moon,” Taako said, only then starting to piece it together. They must’ve taken the gauntlet to Lucretia. They were with her now and  officially out of his fucking reach.

“I can try to open a portal onto the moon again if you want,” Kravitz offered, but Taako shook his head.

“No, she’s still got a ward up, I couldn’t go there even if I wanted to,” he said, hating how fucking defeated he felt.

“I could g-” Kravitz started, but Taako cut him off before he could finish.

“We’ve dealt with reapers in other planes. She’ll have something prepared for you too, or she’ll set one up afterwards. We can’t risk it,” he said. He didn’t- he couldn’t lose Kravitz on top of everything else.  He’d found one fucking good thing in the past ten years and he didn’t know if he could keep himself together if he lost that too . He didn’t want to find out.

“Alright, alright we should- we need to get you back to the cave love. Do you think you can move?” Kravitz asked, relenting for now. Taako nodded,  slowly floating up off the black glass. He  really looked around for the first time, and he didn’t even have a heart anymore but he could still feel it sinking.

“Lup would fucking hate this,” he said, his voice  barely coming out above a whisper.

“Let’s go,” Kravitz said, taking a hold of his shoulder as best as he could. It was as much comfort as he could give right now. It wasn’t anywhere near enough. “We’ll figure something out, we know where they are now,” he added, and  reluctantly Taako nodded.

“Right. Yeah, we’ll  just . We’ll figure something out,” he said, and with that Kravitz opened up a portal to the cave and Taako moved through.

They would figure something out. Lucretia had two relics now, and Taako knew what she was planning to do. They needed to move fast.

There wouldn’t be much time to save this plane now, and Taako didn’t think he could leave anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we got a taako pov chapter because i couldn't resist. i also don't know if i'm gonna be able to finish this in one more chapter so i've tentatively moved it up to six >_> i'm just. having a lot of fun with this au. 
> 
> sidenote thing that might come up in the fic, might not: mindwiped barry thinks he's more of a fighter, but still had a draw to magic, so he became a pact of the blade warlock. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~


	5. Chapter 5

Kravitz was worried about Taako. He knew this last death had hit him hard, and for good reason. He had been so close, they’d had the gauntlet, his family had been right there in front of him. Of course something inside of him broke when it all fell apart. When he had to watch someone use the relic once again and when his family was stolen from him before he could even do anything.

Now what remained of his family was up on the moon, in a place Taako refused to let Kravitz go for fear of him getting hurt. He tried to tell him that it would take a  _ lot _ for someone like him to get hurt, but he wouldn’t listen. Just kept insisting that they needed to play this safe, now more than ever. 

Lucretia was trying to enact her plan, the one to cut off this plane. If they weren’t careful it could mean the end of the world in one way or another. So Kravitz relented. He knew that sometimes you needed to be patient, even if it felt like all it was doing was wasting time.

And he trusted Taako. He knew the situation better than anyone else did, even if he'd told Taako before that they didn't need him for this. Kravitz didn't  _ want _ to do this without him. If Taako felt the time wasn’t right to head up to the moon then Kravitz would listen to him. He’d help him in other ways. Now that they knew where the gauntlet had been try could try to work from there.

They went back to Wave Echo Cave. Just a quick visit, to see what they could before anyone took notice of Taako’s location again. There wasn’t much left though. The vault where it had been kept was open, and the black glass that lined the walls and floor was incredibly familiar.

There was no sign of Lup. Taako was distraught at the fact, and Kravitz couldn’t blame him. He’d spent so long believing that if he could find her relic he’d have his sister back.

“Babe, what if she’s just-” he started to ask, before shutting up, not daring to finish the question. Kravitz watched as he shook his head, pulling himself together with what almost seemed to be sheer stubbornness. “Okay. She wasn’t here. She wasn’t- she’s not here now, at least. So we need to think of something else,” he said, and Kravitz nodded.

He couldn’t think of what might’ve happened to Lup. It was- It was  _ incredibly _ difficult to completely destroy a lich, and Taako had told him about the experience they all had. Even if Lup died, Kravitz couldn’t see her being gone like that so easily. He couldn’t think of where else she might be either though.

They headed back to the cave, and Taako started plotting again. It was tireless and obsessive and Kravitz wished he could help more. Mostly though he was left watching, hoping that there was some sort of break.

He wished he could spend more time with Taako while he was stuck in the cave. He wished he could go back and have kept him from dying this last time. Kravitz knew that going to that cave on his own was a bad idea, or well, he supposed not going. Either way, it had ended badly and he wished he could’ve been around to help.

He didn’t know if it was bad timing, or if Taako had deliberately waited for a time when he wasn’t around to leave the cave next. Still, when he got back one day it was obvious something was off. Taako was crackling with energy, his frustration obvious. Kravitz thought for a moment that maybe it was being stuck in the cave for so long doing it to him, but that wasn’t the case.

“I saw them today. Luce sent them after another relic,” Taako said, and Kravitz jolted up at that. He did a quick count in his head. After the gauntlet they’d heard of them gathering one more, although they’d only gotten word of it after the fact. This would make the third, if they’d managed to get it.

“Are they alright?” Kravitz asked. He didn’t really know these people, in fact some of the names had vexed him for quite some time before finding out they were Taako’s family. Still, he knew that if something happened to them he’d probably lose Taako for good, and he couldn’t have that.

“Yeah. Some jackass almost poisoned them. I killed the fucker, and-  _ fuck,” _ he said. Kravitz wished he could do something besides sit by and offer what felt like meaningless support.

“Did something happen?” he asked, and he heard Taako sigh heavily.

“I tried to kill Barry. It’s just- he needs to remember! He’ll be  _ fine, _ but uh, it didn’t go over well. They probably think I’m some crazy evil lich now. I know  _ she's _ telling them not to trust me,” Taako explained, and Kravitz flinched at that.

“Yeah, I can uh, see how that might not’ve been the greatest impression in the world,” he said. He was trying to be supportive, but he could practically feel Taako rolling his eyes at that.

“You don’t  _ say _ my dude?” he snapped, and Kravitz shrugged helplessly.

“I mean, it’s not irredeemable? I tried to kill you a bunch of times after all, and you never seemed to mind all that much,” he offered, trying to lighten the mood. He couldn’t help but smile a little when that managed to get a small laugh out of Taako. He knew it wasn't much, but despite how horrible everything was he wanted to make Taako  _ happy. _

“Okay, you’re not wrong there. I swear as soon as Barry beefs it he’ll be thanking me. It’s just, ugh,” he started, his voice shifting from the joking upbeat why he usually was to an almost hopeless mumble. “He looked fucking terrified. Of  _ me.  _ They all did, and I might’ve lost my composure a little, which just freaked them out even  _ more,” _ he muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Kravitz said, and he wished he could do more. He had an arm around Taako but it wasn’t  _ enough. _ Nothing he was doing was enough.

So when he happened upon Magnus, Merle, and Barry, only a few months later just by  _ chance _ at a bounty he’d been assigned. Well, he needed to take the opportunity to at least  _ try _ and help Taako. He needed to do something, for him help to have some sort of results. 

_ “You!” _ he shouted, pointing down at the form of one Barry Bluejeans, who’d been nervously smiling at his giant crystalline form. That smile quickly faded though.

“Oh boy that’s me,” he said, fumbling to pull out a long sword.

Kravitz might’ve felt a little bad about attacking Taako’s family, but he said himself that Barry would be thankful once he was able to remember everything. Plus, they all technically had very high bounties on them. It wasn’t like he wasn’t also doing what his job demanded.

He really was trying not to kill Merle and Magnus though. He didn’t think Taako would ever forgive him for that, and they wouldn’t brush off death as easily as Barry would.

Not that they seemed to  _ realize _ that. For a bunch of people who didn’t remember dying so much they certainly weren’t too bothered by the prospect.

And okay, maybe he lost his temper a little. They were just  _ so bizarre.  _ He was used to dealing with Taako’s strangeness, he’d grown to quite enjoy it. It was endearing and made the monotony that his afterlife had become suddenly so unpredictable.

There was something that broke him a little though. Watching a lich who didn’t know he was a lich, who looked like a completely unassuming middle aged man, grab a fork and eat a bomb made out of crystal. He didn’t know how he was supposed to  _ process _ that one.

After that and after taking some time to cool off, because he was trying to  _ help _ here, he managed to get a look into the room where his actual bounty was. There’d been something keeping him from opening up a portal into the room, and Kravitz supposed Taako might’ve been right about the bureau being prepared for reapers like him.

“Boy you’re really not bright are you? Still trying to piece this one together, huh?” he said, and he supposed it was a little rude, but it wasn't like it wasn't true. All eyes in the room turned to him, which was fair. He was mainly focused on the ones belonging to Taako’s family though.

“Hey now, we’re not a hive mind. I’d say one of us had a firm grasp on it, one of us is about halfway there, and one of us got distracted like a minute in,” Magnus said. That was probably a pretty fair assessment from what Kravitz had seen of the three.

“Well, let me lay it out for you. That  _ nerd  _ there is a necromancer, and necromancy is real bad stuff. We don’t like that stuff over where I’m from,” he started to explain. A part of him was already frustrated. He knew there was so much they needed to know, but he couldn’t try and explain any of it. The chances of their boss realizing what was up and making this whole thing even more difficult for them was too high.

“I mean, it sounds like we’re on the same page here,” Magnus said, and Kravitz made a face at that.

“Ah ah ah, now  _ quite.  _ Now, due to some extenuating circumstances Magnus and Merle, despite having some  _ very high bounties _ on both your heads, I’m not taking you two in. Barry though, I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me,” he said, hoping that maybe he could talk his way through this. 

“Uh, no? I’m not- I don’t really want to die? I’d rather just uh, stay here, if I could?” Barry said, sounding very unsure and confused about the whole thing. Which was fair, knowing how little he actually knew.

“Yeah, what did Barry ever do?” Magnus asked.

“Oh so many things. Don’t worry, I can assure you you’re getting off  _ much _ more favorably than someone like you normally would. Under normal circumstances it’d be a one way trip to the eternal stockade, but I’d rather not upset him like that,” Kravitz said, mumbling that last part to himself. Unfortunately they still seemed to hear though.

“Wait, upset who like that?” Barry asked.

“I can explain all of that to you if you just come with me. I promise, it won’t even hurt, we don’t have to make a big deal out of it,” he said, and he kind of doubted it would work but he still wanted to try. He needed to, he knew how much it hurt Taako being away from his family like this. He always talked about how he didn't know how he was getting by without Lup and Barry's help. It was obvious that Taako was brilliant and unlike anyone Kravitz had ever known, it wasn't that he wasn't capable of doing all of this on his own. It was that Kravitz didn't want to to have to.

“I’d kinda like to know everything  _ before _ I agreed to like, just fucking die,” Barry said. Kravitz couldn’t even blame him that much for that, as much as he wanted to. He was being very vague, but it wasn't like he wanted to.

“Yeah, and why are we off the hook?” Merle asked, Magnus immediately shushing and swatting at the dwarf.

“Merle, let’s not jinx it,” he said, and it sounded like he was attempting to whisper, but it wasn’t that great of an execution.

“Listen, there’s a lot I  _ literally can’t tell you. _ Believe me, I’d love to explain everything sure would make my job a hell of a lot easier. But unfortunately I’m not in a position to do that,” he said, before turning his attention solely to Barry. If he concentrated hard enough to he sense the latent power inside of him, the telltale marks of a lich. It was the same as whenever Taako was in his own body.

“All I can say is that someone very important to you needs your help, and I can take you to him,” he said, needing to make one final plea.

He could see Barry seeming to almost think it over, like he was actually considering. It was better than he’d expected honestly, he hadn’t thought he’d really be able convince him to actually come. He kind of thought he’d have to kill him and then hope to be able to explain that he was with Taako afterwards. It wasn’t the best plan, but none of this was all that thought out.

“I… guess I’ll… just you know, consideeeeer,” Barry started to say, very slowly.

And then a hand grabbed Kravitz from behind and smashed him into the ground.

Things went very frustratingly after that. Legion nearly escaped the astral plane, and they would have if it wasn’t for those three. Kravitz knew were all incredibly skilled, but he still hadn’t been expecting them to be able to defeat something like the legion. Especially considering that Taako had explained that almost all of their skills had been wiped along with the rest of their memories.

Barry wouldn’t agree to come with him. Kravitz could still kill him, but they were going to go back up to the moon base soon, and he didn’t know how Taako would feel about him doing that.

So, he let them go for now. It wasn’t the best move, but he didn’t feel like he had a lot of options. He let them haggle him for the soul of Noelle Redcheeks to get some extra time as well, and god, Kravitz was getting soft.

When he finished up with that bounty, he had to spend a while in the astral plane explaining everything that had happened to the Raven Queen. It had certainly gotten much more complicated than he’d been expecting when he’d gone into it.

It had been late in the night when everything was said and done, and by the time he was able to go back to Taako’s cave and check in on him, it was maybe mid morning. 

He was genuinely scared for a moment when he stepped through a rift into the cave. It was a mess. It was usually a mess, but not like this. This wasn’t clothes and books and notes strewn about haphazardly. This was chaos. This was maps torn down and broken chairs and turned over desks. There was a fearful moment where Kravitz thought the cloning pod might’ve been destroyed as well, but it seemed to have managed to stay out of range of the destruction.

Taako sat in the middle of it all. Instead of any sort of semi-face like form in the hood, there was a rapidly flickering white light, and every so often a cackle of red energy would arc off of him. He barely looked stable, and Kravitz could hear him mumbling but he couldn’t understand the words.

How  _ long _ had he been like this?

“Taako? Gods, Taako, what happened? Please, answer me,” he said, getting to his knees besides Taako and trying to pull him back to his senses. He should’ve killed Barry, damned what he thought in the moment. He didn’t know Taako was this bad off. He didn’t know what he was going to do if he  _ lost _ him.

“Found her. They found her. She’s gone she’s gone she’s  _ gone,” _ Taako said, and Kravitz could finally understand him now and oh. Oh no.

“Taako, please look at me. It’s going to be okay, I need you to focus,” he said. The hood lifted to face him, and there was a moment where Kravitz was so worried. Was terrified that Taako didn’t even recognize him anymore. Then something finally seemed to break through, and Taako let out what sounded like a choked sob. He couldn’t even cry in this form, and Kravitz had never seen him cry when in his physical body.

“They found her Krav. They  _ found her,”  _ he repeated. It hurt, seeing him this broken, and Kravitz didn’t know what he could do to fix it. He wasn’t even sure if he could fix this.

“What do you mean love? You need to be more specific,” he said. If he could get Taako focused and talking maybe he could keep him from sliding into madness.

“Her staff. Barry had her umbrella. I was- I was trying to explain things to them. To warn them without, you know, telling them it all. But he had her staff, she’s  _ gone,” _ he explained, and Kravitz felt his stomach drop at that. He’d seen Barry, he had a peculiar staff in the shape of an umbrella.

He hadn’t realized it had once belonged to Lup.

“Taako, you don’t know that,” he tried, but Taako was shaking his head.

“Where would she go? Why would she leave like that? What the fuck am I supposed to do without her?” he asked, and he was close to coming unstable again. Kravitz knew that there was nothing he could do if Taako lost this tether completely. At that point, the only solace he could offer Taako was a quick death. He couldn’t let it get to that point.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to figure it out. Please Taako, we’ll find out what happened to Lup. We’re so close now, you just need to hold on for a little bit longer,” he tried, feeling himself practically begging for Taako to hold on.

It’d been so long since he let himself care for someone like this. Kravitz really had made such a huge mistake, letting those feelings develop for a lich like Taako. 

“Yeah… yeah, just a little bit longer,” Taako said, and his voice sounded almost hallow. The unstable buzz of pure arcane power slowly started to fade in the room though, and after a moment Kravitz let out a breath he hadn’t any reason to be holding. He didn’t even need to breathe. Still, he needed to show his relief somehow, and that was it.

“Sorry, for freaking out,” Taako mumbled after a moment, but Kravitz shook his head.

“It’s alright love. It’s- I can’t imagine how hard it is, keeping yourself together like this,” he said. He’d already started having ideas, ways to help Taako once all this was over and he needed to face the Raven Queen’s judgment. All of those would be useless if Taako wasn’t able to keep himself together until the time came.

“It’s bullshit,” he said, and Kravitz nodded in agreement. That was a blunt and simple way to put it, but that didn’t make it any less true.

“So uh, you were there? Um, in that strange crystal lab?” Kravitz asked, once things seemed to have calmed down considerably. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to keep pressing at it, but he couldn’t help but be curious. They must’ve missed each other. He hadn’t sensed Taako’s energy when he was up there.

“How’d you know they were up in a crystal lab?” Taako asked, and right, Kravitz hadn’t actually explained that.

“I had another bounty there, just a strange coincidence. You don’t know anyone named Lucas, do you?” he asked, because Taako had never mentioned someone with that name before, but it was probably best to double check. He hadn’t taken him in, so no harm no foul if he did.

“Huh? No, was it someone in Lucretia’s weird operation?” Taako asked, and Kravitz shrugged.

“I think so? He almost caused an entire break out of the eternal stockade. I uh, I would’ve come to see you sooner, but there was a lot of cleanup afterwards,” he explained, and Taako nodded. He seemed to be a lot better off now, so Kravitz tried to relax some. It was going to be okay. It was- the worst thing he could do was try and have faith that a lich would be able to keep their mind in tact for the time they needed to fix everything, but that was just what he was doing.

“That’s fine. Fucking, sorry babe, I guess some of that’s my fault. All that crystal junk was my relic. Don’t know how that has anything to do with breaking souls out of ghost jail, but they’re probably related,” Taako said. He didn’t talk a lot about the relics, so Kravitz hadn’t realized that had been his. He figured one of them must be at work, and it made sense now.

“It all worked out. I suppose I owe your friends some for their help now. Although, I’m already not taking them in for death crimes, so I’d say it’s even now,” he said. Taako chuckled some at that, floating up from where he’d been almost crumpled up on the floor.

“Damn, this place is a fucking mess,” he said, and Kravitz winced some and nodded. It really hadn’t fared all that well.

“You didn’t break the cloning pod at least,” he said, and he could see Taako’s form shudder some with relief at that.

“Yeah, god that would’ve set us back, fuck,” he said. Kravitz nodded in agreement. He hated the constant continued uses of necromancy, but there wasn’t much they could do about them without giving themselves almost no options on how to fix all of this.

“Um, dear?” Kravitz said after a moment, feeling the awkwardness building up inside of him.

“Yeah babe?” Taako asked, and he was only still getting his composure back, so maybe this wasn’t the best time to do this.

“I tried to kill Barry tonight,” he blurted out anyway. There was a long stretch of silence at that, and Kravitz was kind of worried about Taako’s reaction. “I mean, I didn’t  _ manage  _ to,” he added on quickly.

“Okay. Okay I can’t really fault you for that, I mean I tried to kill the dude too,” Taako finally ask after a moment. It was kind of hard to tell how he was feeling, but he didn’t seem any  _ closer _ to a break down, so that was a good thing.

“Yeah, I just uh, thought you should know. I probably- I could’ve. After they fought Legion back into the astral plane they were weak. I could have taken him out without causing much more damage to Merle and Magnus, but it just seemed- I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it,” he explained, and he could see Taako nodding.

“Yeah I mean. I fucking miss him. I could use his help, but I don’t-” Taako paused, seeming to think it over. “Luce is gonna keep sending them after the rest of the relics. Mags and Merle are great, but I don’t think the two of them could handle it on their own,” he finished, and Kravitz nodded. It was a good point. He could understand Taako not wanting to risk his other friends getting killed because they didn’t have the backup they needed.

“I might’ve mentioned some things about death counts, but they didn’t seem to believe me. I told them that they were being exonerated from several crimes, and that I wasn’t taking Merle and Magnus in, but I tried to get Barry to come with me,” he explained.

The rest of the night they spent fixing up everything Taako had thrown apart and destroyed, and slowly Taako explained to Kravitz in bits and pieces what happened. Kravitz didn’t mind, if this kept him from having another break down he could take as long as he needed to.

The waiting was hard. He could tell it was wearing on Taako more and more. He could tell there was tension building in the celestial plane, knowledge that something was coming. A point in time not far off where everything was so uncertain, the gods couldn’t even guarantee their continued existence past that moment.

Kravitz wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t for the sudden jump in death count for those three. He knew  _ how _ they kept dying and coming back before, and they certainly weren’t using that method here. One night though, while he’d been doing logs in the eternal stockade his book had suddenly opened on its own.

Merle Highchurch, Magnus Burnsides, and Barry Bluejeans all had 11 new deaths next to each of their names.

And then below that, there were pages and pages of new deaths. A quick scan showed an entire small town worth of people, with  _ thousands _ of deaths each. All the exact same amount too. It didn’t make any sense.

When the Raven Queen called for him, he wasn’t surprised. He couldn’t even be surprised at what she wanted him to do. Of course they needed to find out what happened, and the easiest thing to do would be to talk to those three. They obviously had something to do with it. There was no way they didn’t, even if their death counts were far below the rest of the new entries.

Kravitz considered going to Taako first and explaining the situation. He didn’t have anything  _ to _ explain right now though. Just a confusing and concerning amount of deaths, with no real explanation. No, it would be best to go to them directly and have a real answer to give Taako once this was all done.

Kravitz knew Taako had warned him about going onto the moon, but this was an order from his Queen. If something bad happened, he could escape. He didn’t need Taako worrying over him so much. Even with Taako's surprising age despite his looks, Kravitz was still much older. The worst case scenario was simply that he couldn’t get into the moon at all.

Tearing a portal in, he did seem capable of going there. He was pretty sure he had the reclaimer’s room, and he could tell even from here that there were sections of the base with heavy wards. Those places he figured he should keep away from, or else risk tipping off Lucretia that Taako was planning against her.

Waiting a bit, he wasn’t sure when they would get back or what to do to pass the time. Thankfully it didn’t take too long though before the door opened and a very tired looking Barry Bluejeans came walking through the door. He didn’t even seem to notice him at first, shrugging off a cloak and kicking some boots off by the door.

He finally stiffened at the sight of the reaper when he turned around, and Kravitz stood up from where he’d been waiting on the couch.

“Well, we need to talk, don’t we? Because you boys have added quite a bit to your death count, haven’t you?”

“Uh, yeah sorry. We done fucked up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea how much longer this fic will be anymore. I wanna say _probably_ actually two more chapters instead of one, but who knows. We're def getting close to the end though, i plan on finishing this fic this month if i can help it! 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~


	6. Chapter 6

Barry Bluejeans was an incredibly strange man. This was something Kravitz had known empirically. After their brief meeting in that lab and hearing all the stories that Taako had about his brother in law, Kravitz  _ knew _ that Barry was not as plain as his appearance would lead someone to believe.

That didn’t make talking to and actually interacting with the man for an extended period of time any less mind boggling though.

“So uh, do you want something to drink? We got um, beer? Do you like beer? Wait you’re dead right, in a way? Can you even like, food?” Barry asked, still standing extremely nervous in the entrance way. Kravitz couldn’t feel that bad about scaring him in all honesty. By all rights he should be scared.

“I can food, but no thank you. I’d rather stay focused on the task at hand if you don’t mind,” he said. Barry nodded, and Kravitz saw his grip on the umbrella tighten ever so slightly.

“Right, that. Are you-” he hesitated, before sighing, “are you gonna kill me? Because I can try and fight you and kick up a fuss, but I kinda doubt the elevators move fast enough for anyone to get here before you could get the drop on me,” he said. It was surprising, Kravitz hadn’t expected him to be so level headed about it. Or so accepting of his apparent inevitable death.

“You’re right, I would be able to take you out if I was so inclined. Unfortunately, I’m not here to kill you today,” he said, heading back over to the couch and sitting down. He could see the look of surprise followed by relief on Barry’s face.

“Well shit. I mean, seems pretty fortunate for me, but either way I’ll take it,” he said, following after Kravitz and slumping down in another chair. He still had a tight grip on the umbrella, the spellcasting focus that had once belonged to Lup. Even though he didn’t necessary know Barry all that well, a part of Kravitz still wished he could explain to him the significance of that umbrella.

“You would think that,” he mumbled instead, before trying to focus again. He had a job to do here. “I’m not here to kill you, but I need to know what happened in the town of Refuge,” he said. That was the only thing he knew for sure, was that all these deaths took place in a small town out in the woven gulch called Refuge.

“Um, a lot of shit, that wasn’t very fun, and if you asked me I would not like to do it again,” Barry said, which wasn’t exactly the answer Kravitz had been looking for.

“Please tell me that’s not everything you’re bringing to the table here,” he said, and Barry quickly shook his head much to Kravitz’s relief. With that, he started getting into a full explanation of the events that had happened down in Refuge.

Kravitz had seen the effects of the war, and he’d heard bits and pieces of what the relics could do from Taako. Something about hearing a firsthand account of something like that was truly unnerving. A part of him was glad that something so twisted was no longer out in the world.

Taako had told him about what would be coming if they didn’t have the relics out there though, and he couldn’t say he was looking forward to that either.

When the Raven Queen pulled him away from his meeting with Barry, he assured the man that everything would be taken care of. He and the citizens of Refuge didn’t have anything to worry about now that the relic was gone. He could see now that Barry was under the protection of the Lady Istus, and he wasn’t surprised in the slightest to find out that also applied to Magnus and Merle.

Kravitz reported back to the Raven Queen, and the next chance he got he told Taako what happened. Assured him that his friends were fine, and that they only had one more relic left before they had gathered them all.

He could see Taako’s nervous energy over the next few months. Literally. It hurt, seeing him this close to breaking. Terrified that one day he would come back and Taako wouldn’t be himself anymore. That everything he’d feared since he first started to let himself care for this lich would happen and he’d be left gutted and cold.

It was getting closer and closer to the end, and Kravitz wished there was something he could do to help.

He hadn’t realized just how close it was when he tore open a rift to Taako’s cave one day. He found his boyfriend frantically piling thing together and seeming to prepare for something. Something big. He had a pretty good idea of what it was, too.

“Is everything okay dear?” he asked as he stepped through, and he could see the movement that meant Taako was nodding. It didn’t look like he’d bothered to look over at him though, carefully going over his map of the bureau once more.

“It’s only a few days away. It’s- Luce has gotta be sending them out soon. I’m gonna make sure they get through this one. No matter what fucking happens, they can't fuck up here,” Taako said, and Kravitz could feel his heart sinking at that. It was scary, he didn’t want to leave Taako alone for this.

“The last relic, it’s the necromantic one, correct?” he asked, and Taako nodded once again. He seemed so distracted, so close to breaking now Kravitz could barely handle it.

“Yeah, it’s Barry’s. Dude was always a bit of a fucking weirdo when it came to that junk but hey, can’t say it never came in handy,” Taako said, and Kravitz couldn’t help but grimace at that.

“It’s- let me come and help with this one. I can’t- destroying something like this could certainly fall into my job description anyway,” he tried to offer. To his disappointment though Taako shook his head.

“You don’t need to put yourself in that kind of danger my dude. It’s- we’ve got this. We made the relics and we’ll deal with them and fix all of this, I promise,” he said. When Taako went to move by him Kravitz grabbed a hold of his hand as best as he could, and luckily it was enough to get Taako to stop and look at him. There was just a faint buzzing light in his hood, like there normally was. Kravitz hoped that he could see his real face soon.

“Taako, you don’t need to  _ protect _ me. I appreciate the concern, but I want to help you through this. I don’t want you to have to do it all alone,” he said, not letting go of his hand. After all this time he’d gotten used to the curling feeling of unease in his soul like an upset stomach at being in contact with a lich like this. It he could offer some sort of comfort to Taako, it was worth it.

“I know. Fuck. I know Krav,” Taako said, his voice soft. “But I just- I can’t afford to lose you too, not now,” he added, and Kravitz nodded slowly. He knew how precarious Taako’s tether was. He knew he couldn’t take much more torment without being lost completely. The last thing he wanted was to be the cause of that.

“You won’t lose me. Taako, I promise I’m not going anywhere,” he said, trying with all his might to make it sound true. It was true, as far as Kravitz was concerned. He didn’t know  _ how _ they were going to defeat what was coming, but they would.

“Thanks,” Taako said, his voice barely a whisper. Neither of them spoke for a long moment, and eventually Taako sighed. He seemed a little more solid, the tiniest bit more stable in a way Kravitz couldn’t even put into words. It was just from spending so much time with him that he could see any difference at all.

“I’m going to follow them into Wonderland and make sure those three idiots don’t die. Then I’m going to bring them back here and we’re gonna start putting the plan into action,” he said, and Kravitz nodded. They’d had that plan for a while now, and once again Kravitz felt useless. He wished he could help more, in his long, long time in existence, the one thing he’d never felt much of was useless.

“You need to keep life and death running smoothly babe. Just keep that going for as long as you can. The hunger will be coming for the outer planes first. I need you to try and hold them off as long as you can,” he said. Kravitz knew he was right. It was his solemn duty as an agent of the Raven Queen. As much as he wanted to be by Taako’s side, he needed to hold his front as much as he could.

“Alright… alright,” he said reluctantly. There wasn’t much there he could touch, but Kravitz still leaned forward and pressed as much of a kiss as he could to the top of Taako’s hooded form. The feeling made his lips want to curl into a sneer, but he managed to fight it back and pull away with a soft smile.

“Please be careful. Let your family help you,” Kravitz said, and Taako let out a bit of a choked laugh before nodding.

“Sure thing. You too babe,” he said. With that Kravitz finally, reluctantly let go of Taako’s hand. Summoning his scythe again to head back to the astral plane, he wanted to say something. He didn’t want to just leave Taako without a promise to see each other again.

He knew how the last time someone had promised Taako to be back soon had worked out though, and he wasn’t going to do that to him again.

“I love you Taako,” is what he ended up saying instead. Even without a face he was pretty sure he could see the surprise run through Taako like an electrical shock. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe Taako didn’t feel the same way about him. Maybe Kravitz  _ shouldn’t _ feel that way about him, but he did and it felt imperative at that moment to let him know.

“Love you too babe. See you soon,” Taako said back after a moment though, and Kravitz wasn’t able to stop the large smile from spreading across his face at that. With a nod, he cut open a portal back to the astral plane and stepped through. Once it closed behind him, he wasn’t sure when he’d be heading back. He wasn’t sure when he would see Taako again, but he would.

And either way, it wouldn’t be too much longer before this was all over.

Steeling himself, Kravitz waited on the shores of the eternal Stockade, and prepared to face the Hunger as it closed in on the world.

———

Taako was petty sure he didn’t have much longer left. He was never as strong as Lup and Barry, could never hold onto that hope the same way they could. He was too cynical, too detached. They had so many tethers, holding them down from every direction. Losing a few wouldn’t be the end of them, they could still stay fast.

His were just a handful of strong bonds keeping him sane. Losing one or two made his grasp a hell of a lot weaker than it had been. He didn’t know how much longer it would be before the ones keeping him in place were too strained and he’d be blown away.

Just a few more days. A few more hours. Then he’d at least be back in a body, and if they didn’t solve everything by the time he was a lich again, well, it wouldn’t really matter what happened to his mind at that point.

He almost lost himself when he found out they found her. If it hadn’t been for Kravitz dragging him out of that spiral of despair he would have. There was nothing in the world that could replace Lup if she was truly, really gone, but he couldn’t be sure of that yet. He couldn’t-

He couldn’t think about it. Kravitz was a good distraction. Preparing for the hunger and figuring out how they were going to inoculate everyone was a distraction.

And Kravitz couldn’t replace the family he’d been missing for a decade now. The one he lived with and fucking  _ trusted _ for a hundred years, but there was still something grounding there. It wasn’t a replacement, it was just something new. Which, Taako wasn’t used to new things, not after going for so long with only a set number of people mattering to him. Only a set number of things to keep his mind intact.

When Kravitz had said he loved him though, it felt like one more string had solidified. Tying him down against some raging storm, letting him last just that little bit longer.

He could at least make it another day. Just one more day, until it wouldn’t matter anymore.

Following the boys into Wonderland, the whole place made Taako sick to his stomach. He fucking loved it, the aesthetic at least. The bright lights and loud music and beautiful clothes the liches that ran it wore. Twin elf liches.

That-

That hurt.

He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t think about that tether, how it was barely holding on. He had to focus on the others. Barry was still in front of him, bumbling and clueless as he was. Magnus and Merle were still here. Magnus was suspicious, Taako knew he must be after what he saw in Refuge.

Magnus didn’t know what was going on, but he was listening to the thieves cant Taako was pressing into his hand. Taako tried to focus on the fact that some part of his family still trusted him, even if only tentatively.

He tried to focus on Kravitz’s determined smile as he headed back into the astral plane, to fight the hunger as much as he could and try to buy them all some time.

He’d never been as good at the necromantic stuff as Barry, but he had to hurry. He needed a  _ door. _ Not a potted plant, that a portrait of a woman, not a statue of a raven, a  _ door. _

It took longer than he would’ve liked before he finally managed to get it. Magnus, Merle and Barry were all pretty fucked up, Barry especially so. Taako had thought the dude was going to go lich when that fucking washing machine fell on him, and the sacrifices they’d all been making weren’t helping any either.

When the liches used the animus bell, Taako felt his heart sink. He saw Barry stagger back, and he saw his soul get pushed out of it like he’d been kicked in the chest. Then he saw the lich Edward take over his body.

Something they clearly hadn’t been expecting happened at that moment though. A crackle of pure arcane energy, and Taako couldn’t smile but he felt like he somehow managed it as Barry’s lich form stabilized onto the catwalk. Taako dropped the invisibility he’d had on himself, an advanced spell they’d learned in a previous cycle that even concealed him from the other liches.

“My dude!” he shouted, dropping the scary act. He couldn’t keep it up if he wanted to, his fucking  _ brother _ was here. He could see Magnus and Merle staring at the two of them and at Barry’s possessed body in shock. Even Lydia and Fake Barry looked confused and taken off guard.

“What- I- oh  _ god, _ Taako, what did we do?” Barry asked, still getting a hold of himself.

“A lot of shit. Help me destroy these fuckers and we’ll fix it, okay?” he said, and Barry nodded before turning back to Magnus and Merle.

“Buds, I’m sorry. I know this- I know you gotta have a lot of questions right now, but I just need you guys to trust me,” he said. Merle still looked unconvinced, but reluctantly Magnus nodded.

“You two better explain what’s going on after this,” he said, and Taako almost felt like a person again. They were going to help. He had Barry back and they were going to  _ help him. _

“We’ll explain as much as we can. Taako, I take it you’ve got some kind of plan once we get out of here?” Barry asked, and Taako was kind of glad he didn’t have a face right now, because otherwise he’d be grinning like an idiot.

“Oh for sure! What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?” he said. Taako was almost too distracted to notice the giant beam falling towards them, throwing out a spiraled statue to catch it before it hit them.

“I wouldn’t be making plans with so much confidence. We’re not letting you all leave, dears,” Lydia said. For the first time in a  _ long _ time, Taako could feel a will to fight burning within him again. Barry floated up to be at his side, and he could feel the arcane power flowing through his without  _ fear _ for once. Without being worried that it was going to overtake him.

“Sorry my dudes. You don’t get a say in the matter. I’m taking my family back, you undead fucks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i swear this time there's only going to be one more chapter. i was gonna try and fit it all into one but it would've been too long and i liked these spots as ending scenes too much, so i figured a slightly shorter chapter here and then a regular-ish sized end chapter. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~


	7. Chapter 7

Kravitz had told himself that he was prepared for this. That after all of the stories Taako had told him, after everything he’d been through in his centuries serving the Raven Queen, he was prepared for whatever the hunger might bring them.

He told himself that, but this had been so much more than he had ever anticipated.

At the very least, thanks to the stories he wasn't caught off guard. He knew what was coming, that he had to be ready when the sky turned still and stormy. When thick, black ooze began to spill over the sea of souls like tar, he kept his distance and prepared to fight. There was so much to fight. He’d told Taako he would hold back what he could of the hunger, and he was sworn to protect the souls of the departed for his Queen, but it was so much.

The onslaught here wasn’t exactly how Taako had described it to him. He spoke about giant pillars pouring out of a whole other plane, shooting down into the planet. Armies pouring out of them and ravaging everything in sight as the world became dulled from its severed connections.

This was different. This was a darkness seeping in and choking everything. Hands shooting out and trying to pull him  _ down _ and choke him too. An oozing form that was bent on engulfing everything it could find. 

He wasn’t sure how long he lasted. It felt like forever. His body was only a construct, but he’d been nearly reduced to his soul several times. Eventually there was nothing he could do but retreat, running to the Eternal Stockade and barricading himself inside. He couldn’t allow himself to be overrun, he needed to keep himself together for as long as possible.

He just hoped he was giving Taako enough time to try and get the rest of his family together and figure out how to end this. He hoped Taako was _ okay. _ He had no idea what had happened to him. In all that time fighting, there’d been no chance to check, no sign if he was still himself and sane. No idea if he hadn’t been overrun in wonderland, and everything had been for naught.

Kravitz couldn’t let himself think that way though. He needed to have faith that Taako could figure this out, and he needed to prepare on his side as well.

He already had a feeling about what would happen, but even still Kravitz attempted to cut a slice open to the Prime Material Plane. Nothing happened, and despite himself he tried a few more times. Attempting to commune with his Queen had no effect as well. Kravitz knew he would end up cut off if he stayed here too long, Taako had warned him. They didn’t have any real idea how to fix it once the hunger cut off the outer planes.

He needed to try and figure something out though, so Kravitz headed deeper into the Eternal Stockade. 

Making deals hadn’t backfired on him yet. He didn’t have any other tools left in his arsenal, and so he needed to try.

Taako had said that they would see each other soon, and Kravitz was going to do everything in his power to make sure that happened.

——

Taako woke up naked, with no idea how he got to his current location, in front of a dwarf, a human man, and a ghost.

It sounded like the beginning of a really crappy joke.

“Okay, you know, this might actually be the wildest way I’ve ever spent a night. As unbelievable as that might be, this right here, this tops the list. Fuck my head hurts,” Taako said, looking around and trying to find something to wear. His eyes fell on the bundle the dwarf was holding. “Hey, my dude, you mind tossing those my way?” he asked.

“Sure thing bud,” the dwarf said, and Taako took the outfit gratefully, getting dressed in what had to be record time.

“So uh, care to explain to cha’ boy what the  _ fuck _ is going on right now? Cause like I said, this is weird even for me. Also, names, those would be appreciated,” Taako said once he was mostly dressed.

“Right, I’m Magnus, that’s Merle, and the jeans guy is Barry,” the muscle dude said.

“Well, I’m not really wearing jeans now. I’m more just like, a robe-”

“A ghost!” Merle cut in.

“A real magical ghost, yeah.”

“Right, sure, that tracks I guess,” Taako muttered, not trusting this whole situation. He felt like he was justified in that. "So who  _ are _ you?"

“Well, we did a job together um, about a year ago now? It didn’t turn out  _ great  _ for you,” Magnus said. Taako frowned in confusion, trying to wrack his brain for that. There was something familiar about these three, but in a way so fleeting it practically wasn’t there. Not in any way that mattered.

“Don’t remember any of that,” he said simply, his voice clipped and distrusting.

“It’s- god, Taako I know this is probably a lot and I don’t blame you for not trusting us. You should have a coin though? That should tell you what’s going on,” the ghost, Barry said. Taako patted around in his pockets, not fully believing him. He did find a coin though, and he looked it over with skepticism.

“This piece of shit?” he asked, and then the coin started to speak.

_ Alright, you’re Taako, you know? When you were eight you lived with your aunt, she was the only fucking decent adult in your life. She taught you how to cook, and your favorite things to bake are macaroons. You’ve been on your own since you were twelve, but being alone is the most unnatural fucking feeling in the world. There’s a damn good reason for that. _

_ Listen, I know we don’t trust all that well, but this shit is important. I’m you from like five minutes ago, and we’re in some deep shit. You can’t remember any of the important bits, but believe me when I say fixing this hell is the only option we’ve got. _

_ So, this is me. You guys are gonna try to remember other things, but you’re gonna have to try and resist that urge. It ain’t pleasant going down that path, trust me. _

“He’s right,” Barry cut in, and Taako watched as a skeletal hand dragged down the blank void where a face should be. “This is- shit. Boys, this is real, real bad.”

_ We need to get up to the bureau. Now, no one can see me, or else Luce will know something’s going down. Also, you gotta make sure me or Barold don’t beef it up there, cause that would be major bad news. I have a map over on my desk, don’t ask how cha’ boy got it. We all need to follow that map, and at the end there’s gonna be something that will explain everything. Then, fuck, I’m trusting you all to help me figure out a way how to fix this. Permanently. We can’t run anymore. _

_ Taako, out. _

There was a silence after that, and Taako was staring at the coin, not sure  _ what _ to think. That had been his voice. All of that had been true.

There was something in him that wanted to trust these people. For some reason, and that feeling was terrifying.

“Wait, so now we’re going to work  _ against _ the bureau?” Merle asked, not that Taako knew what he was talking about. He didn’t know what this whole bureau was, or why he had instructions from himself he couldn’t remember leaving, or why this all felt so familiar.

“Yes, Merle, to the surprise of no one,” Magnus said. As they argued Taako went and slumped down on the bed in the corner. All of this stuff looked like it belonged to him, which was weird. He didn’t see himself as the type to live in a cave.

Well, maybe that wasn’t true. There was that one time when he was like 15, but he thought those days were behind him.

“Listen, Merle, Magnus, we gotta trust him. I know how bad this looks, but you gotta do this, there's so little time left. Gods, how much did she erase. How much did- oh _fuck._ _Lup!_ Taako!” the ghost dude was shouting. Taako looked up from where he was slumped, and somehow despite not having a face he still looked panicked. “Taako! Where’s Lup? Did you ever manage to find her? Did you- di-” he stuttered off, and Taako raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Who?” he asked, because he didn’t have a damn clue what this guy was talking about. He was staring down at some weird umbrella he’d been holding now, and his form was shuddering.

“I’ll- I’ll take that as a no,” he said, before taking a moment to compose himself.

“Barry, what’s-” Magnus started to ask, but Barry seemed to have pulled himself together by this point. At least somewhat. There was still something there that seemed dangerously close to an edge, but Taako couldn’t say what. He wasn’t even sure how he could tell, the dude was a fucking billowing piece of fabric.

“It’s- I can’t explain right now. Once we’ve fixed this, I promise I’ll tell y’all everything,” Barry said. Then his form seemed to slump. “Shit, I can’t go back up there. Damn, already fucked that one up.”

_ Ps. Damn, this is gonna sound kinda dumb after that cool sign off. _

Taako jumped some as the coin started speaking again, which okay, apparently multiple messages on this thing.

_ So, Barry already beefed it. Failed step one. New plan, he’s gonna have to hitch a ride with one of us. So, giving you permission to scooch on over in this flesh meat. And hey, living me? Don’t throw a fit, he’d do the same for us. _

“Wait, what the fuck? What did past stupid me just fucking volunteer us for?” Taako snapped. At the very least, Barry had the decency to somehow look sheepish about all this.

“Oh, okay, I guess that works. Uh, listen, I’m gonna possess you. But like! Only a little. I promise it won’t be weird!” Barry insisted.

“You can’t seriously believe I’d agree to any of this?”

Taako couldn’t believe he was actually agreeing to any of this.

They’d headed up to some weird place. Taako couldn’t really tell what was going on. He was inside of a pocket spa that Merle had, and he was trying not to feel too weirded out by the fact that there was a dude fucking  _ possessing him. _ Sure, it didn’t actually feel as weird as it should have, but that didn’t change the fact that it was still a thing.

**So uh, how you doing bud?** Barry’s voice echoed in his head, which was fucking bizarre.

“Fucking fantastic! I don’t know what the hell's going on and I’d really like some answers,” he said, pouting. He felt like he had the right to pout. One of his arms stretched out and grabbed a cucumber slice off the table, that he quickly ate. And then he blinked.

“Did you just make me eat that?!” he snapped, and he could  _ feel _ the mix of embarrassment and amusement coming from Barry. God, that was so fucking weird.

**Sorry, I love those green little guys.** He didn’t sound very sorry.

Taako huffed, but didn’t argue with him anymore about it. It wasn’t actually that big of a deal. He like cucumbers.

He was trying to pay attention to what was going on outside, but he could only hear bits and pieces. At one point, apparently Magnus went off. Said he needed to check something. Merle was still carrying them towards the destination on the map. Taako had given them the coin, so they could figure out their way through.

At one point, he heard Merle yelling or crying about something, and then he stopped. He was talking to someone now, but Taako didn’t know who.

Then he felt himself perk up against his will, and Barry was abuzz in his soul again.

**Wait, is that Angus?**

“Who the fuck is Angus?” Taako asked, because he didn’t  _ know _ anything.

**He’s this kid. He’s a smart- uh, a real smart cookie. We should get out there and talk to them.**

“I thought I wasn’t fucking supposed to be seen by anyone?” Taako argued. He didn’t understand much of this plan but he knew past him had put some emphasis on that.

**I know, but I trust him. It’ll be fine.**

Taako sighed, but followed along and started crawling out of the bag. He had to swat Merle’s hands away when he started trying to push him back into the bag.

“Pay no attention to the elf crawling out of the bag,” Merle insisted, and there was indeed a kid back here with them. Taako wasn’t too sure where ‘here’ was, but hopefully close to their destination.

**“Hey Ango, long day, huh kiddo?”** Taako said, or  _ he _ didn’t say. He frowned, crossing his arms in protest. He guessed Barry  _ had _ said that he wanted to talk to the kid, but it was still weird having someone else use his mouth.

“Um, excuse me sir, who exactly are you?” the kid asked, staring at him with suspicion, a dinky wand pointed at him and Merle still.

“Name’s Taako.”

**“It’s me, Barry,”** Barry added, and Taako huffed in annoyance.  **“Okay yes, this person talking to you is Taako. I’m sort of, uh, inside of him? Possessing him? Just like, light possession. It’s not a big deal.”**

“I think  _ I _ get to decide if it’s a big deal or not,” Taako argued. Angus was staring at them like they had two heads, which was fucking close enough he supposed. “But yes, fine. I’m letting your friend Barold possess me for a little bit because I’m just that nice of a person,” he added.

“Um, okay that’s weird. Mr. Barry how are you possessing this guy?” Angus asked, which was a good question.

**“It’s a long story bud. I can’t give you the answers now, but I need you to trust me,”** Barry said. It was Taako’s voice, and it was fucking weird hearing him sound like that, so sincere and shit. The kid was staring at him seriously, before nodding.

“I know something’s not right here. She just did it again, she destroyed the animus bell. I put a mark on the ball before they put it in, and well, it wasn’t there when it came back out. You don’t need to be the world’s greatest detective to know a bait and switch. If you know where to find answers, I want to help,” he said, and Taako felt himself smiling and nodding against his will. Totally against his will.

**“I promise all of the answers are right through here,”** Barry said.

“Then can we  _ go _ already, this is real cute but cha’ boy would like to get this show on the road,” Taako complained.

**“Oh, right, sorry Taako,”** Barry said. Taako rolled his eyes but continued forward. Getting through the door took some trial and error but Barry managed to figure the number out after a moment.

And then they were in some room, and Taako’s coin started going off like crazy. No fucking clue what it was saying, every other goddamn word engulfed in static. They got the message though. There was a tank, and they needed to drink from it.

Remembering wasn’t as hard as Taako expected. It was different, doing it in a body, without that constant tread of being torn apart.

**“Merle, deactivate the holy symbol. Please we don’t have a lot of time,”** Barry made him say, and he didn’t mind, because it was a good fucking point. As soon as it came down, he felt Barry leave him, that buzz of pure arcane energy leaving, his own much duller one remaining behind. He'd never been able to notice it when alive before now. No wonder everything always felt so fucking off. 

He’d been holding Barry’s wand, the umbrella. He’d been pretty insistent on not leaving it behind. Taako understood why now, and his grip tightened painfully around the handle.

“What the- oh god, did you all inoculate yourselves?” Lucretia asked, running into the room, flanked by guards. “What? Taako?” she asked, clearly taken off guard by his presence, more so even than the lich form of Barry beside him. He couldn’t blame her for that, after all, he was pretty sure they told her Barry had died. She’d probably been on the lookout for his lich form since then.

Magnus burst back into the room then, and Barry used the distraction to mage hand Davenport a flask of ichor.

“Just- explain to them what’s going on Lucretia. You owe them that much.”

——

Kravitz wasn’t sure if there was a way out of the astral plane.

He knew there wasn’t a traditional way out. The hunger cut off the outer planes from the prime material, and so his usual means of transportation weren’t going to cut it. Taako had explained that they’d always had to run though. They never had the time to try and force their way through the barrier.

And he’d been trying. Desperately trying to slice through the muck and tar that spilled around them. Legion, those souls he’d been sworn to keep locked away, raging besides him.

It didn’t seem to be doing  _ anything. _

He couldn’t give up though. He needed to figure out a way to get out of here. He needed to help save this world.

He needed to get back to Taako. They said they’d see each other again, and so he had to keep pushing. There  _ had _ to be some way out of here. There had to be.

Kravitz was so focused on trying to get free that he almost didn’t notice the change at first. It was so fast though, he might not have gotten the chance to anyway. He’d been staring at the impenetrable darkness flashing with ribbons of light that kept him bound in this empty plane of death.

And then there was blue light underneath him, and the darkness was choking the plane that little bit less. Before he could process it, realize what that actually meant, the world around him changed.

He was kneeling on top of blue sapphire, and a spectral town was building up around him. He didn’t know what was going on, but then he saw at the edge of this great pane of gemstone. Taako.

“How- how did you  _ do _ that?” he asked, the question coming out in a disbelieving laugh. Taako was in his body. Kravitz didn’t know if he would even remember him right now. He’d managed to open up a tear between the planes though. There was no way he could- he must’ve-

Kravitz got his answer when Taako came barreling towards him. He barely had time to catch him up in his arms to keep them both from being knocked to the ground.

And then Taako was kissing him, and Kravitz couldn’t believe how long he’d waited for this. In the grand scheme of his existence, it hadn’t been that long at all, but to him it felt like  _ ages. _

“Fuck, I’ve been waiting  _ so long _ to do that,” Taako said once he finally pulled away, and Kravitz burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting,” he said, and Taako was grinning as he pulled him down into another kiss.

“Nah, that was kinda on me, no worries here dog,” he said. Kravitz knew he’d seen Taako living so many times, and he’d like to think he’d managed to work up a level of trust with him in those times.

This was so different though. To truly see a Taako who trusted and loved him openly.

“I knew you’d find a way to fix this,” Kravitz said, and Taako’s bright smile turned a little dimmer at that. Which was fair, Kravitz could still see the devastation raging around them. He could feel his connection to the Raven Queen again, he knew how desperate the fight still was.

“It ain’t all the way fixed, but we’re working on it,” he said, and Kravitz nodded.

“Uh, we got a big problem,” a familiar voice called. When Kravitz looked over, he saw two red robed specters, and he instantly knew who they were.

Kravitz wasn’t sure when he’d started being  _ relieved _ to see liches, but here he was. He wasn’t sure how Barry had died, or how they managed to find Lup, but he was so glad that they were both here. That Taako had his family back.

That relief was only dampened slightly by the giant form moving towards them.

“I don’t know how to kill that!” Lup shouted, and Kravitz could feel a smile forming on his face now.

“I think I know some folks who can help. You remember those wayward souls I’ve been imprisoning? Well, I’m giving them some time off for good behavior,” Kravitz said. As if on cue (if there was one thing Kravitz had always managed to appreciate from the undead, it was their sense of the dramatic) Legion burst through from behind him, tackling the giant.

“Taako, I need to keep an eye on them, and I nee-” Kravitz started to say, but he was cut off as one of the liches moved over to them.

“Hey there, sorry to interrupt ghost rider, I wanted to give you and my bro that  _ moment _ you two were having and all, but I gotta ask. Hey Taako, whomst the  _ fuck?” _ she said, gesturing wildly at Kravitz at the end.

“Right, right introductions are in order. Krav, this is Lup and Barry, but I figured you already pieced that one together. Lup, Barold, this is my boyfriend Kravitz. Long story, I’ll tell it to you after we save the world, but he’s the grim reaper,” Taako said, a huge grin on his face the entire time.

“Taako has told me a lot about you both,” Kravitz said, trying not to be too awkward and probably failing.

“Cool, cool, we are  _ definitely _ gonna have to have a proper meeting the family later,” Lup said, and Kravitz nodded in agreement. He was a little afraid not to agree.

“Of course. Taako, I need to keep shepherding this world’s dead, but it’s so fucking good to see you again,” he said.

“Fuck yeah, you too babe. We gotta keep on moving too, end of the world and all, but it’s- we’re gonna stop it this time,” Taako said, a conviction and certainty to his voice that left Kravitz unable to disagree.

“I’ll see you soon, after you save the world,” he said, giving Taako one more kiss.

“Right on.”

He was right to not doubt Taako.

They actually did it.

Kravitz tried to stick by his duties for as long as he could, but he was sure his Queen could see how distracted he was. It wasn’t long before he was able to join Taako again after they defeated the hunger. Technically, he was there on work, but that didn’t stop him from maybe taking a bit longer than necessary catching up with Taako and finally meeting his family properly.

Barry Bluejeans was back in a body. It was bizarre, and the answer he got as to how (they had one last Barry body in stock at the fantasy Costco babe, what a catch) even more so. Kravitz figured he should probably question it.

Just this once, he wasn’t going to question it.

“I hate to be a drag, but I am here on business as well actually,” Kravitz said. He honestly didn’t hate it that much, since the conversation was starting to steer towards Taako telling some of the more embarrassing antidotes Kravitz had given him from his time as a reaper.

“Yeah, I had a feeling that might be the case,” Taako said, laughing somewhat nervously. “You know, we never actually talked about what would happen once we fixed all of this,” he said, and Kravitz nodded.

“Wait, you never established an end game with your boyfriend who started off trying to kill you?” Lup asked, and Kravitz couldn’t blame her for the suspicion in her voice.

“I was a little distracted trying to save the world Lulu,” Taako argued.

“It’s not bad. I’m not going to take any of you to the stockade. I genuinely don’t think I could at this point,” Kravitz said, not able to mask the affection in his voice any. He needed to at least try and stay focused though, this was important.

“Oh? What you got in mind then babe? Cause I’m sure bird mama isn’t thrilled having so many liches about, even with the whole world saving thing. Which! I’ll just say  _ I _ think should be cause for some exceptions, but whatever,” Taako said, and Kravitz rolled his eyes. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling though.

“This  _ is _ the exception love. It’s- Her Majesty The Raven Queen is willing to absolve you of your many,  _ many _ crimes profaning life and death, and accept you into he retinue as reapers,” he said, making himself deliver the decree in a professional manner. It was the least he could do considering the deal she had granted him for this.

The three liches around him were quiet for a moment, and Kravitz hoped this would be enough. He didn’t know what he’d do if it wasn’t.

“So, we get to be the saucy office romance? Hell yeah, I can dig it,” Taako said, and Kravitz let out a laugh of relief.

“Excuse you bro, but Barold and I have already got decades on you in that department. It’s gonna take a lot for you to even begin to catch up,” Lup said.

“Lup, please,” Barry said, hiding his reddening face in his hands. Lup’s spectral form just put an arm around his shoulders as best as she could.

“Is that a  _ challenge?” _ Taako asked, and Kravitz was suddenly a little nervous about this. Not enough to regret the offer in the slightest, but still, pretty nervous.

“Taako, no,” he said, but he couldn’t find it in himself to mean it all that much. He couldn’t find it in himself to be upset with any of this, really.

There were still details to hammer out, and the world was still recovering from the assault from the hunger.

There would be time for all of that though. This was still all so new, but they had time to figure it out now. Kravitz was  _ excited _ to figure it all out. Without anymore setbacks. Without having to watch Taako forget and suffer and hold himself together by a thread.

He didn’t have to worry about any of that anymore.

Kravitz never expected his dumb decision to trust a lich to work out so well, but he wasn’t ever going to complain that it had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> actually managed to pull through an ending! wasn't technically in november like i wanted but i'm still real glad to have this finished. I have made this into it's own series, due to the fact that i _desperately_ want to write some oneshots dealing with Barry's side of things in all of this, and also some post canon stuff would be fun too. So, keep an eye out for those! 
> 
> I'm really thankful to everyone who stuck through with this fic, that was totally just supposed to be a oneshot. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed~


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